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Theft, brawl caught on camera at iconoCLAD in Salt Lake City

Posted at 10:18 PM, Dec 07, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-08 03:41:09-05

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah -- A brawl to stop a robber in a Salt Lake City clothing shop was caught on camera, and even though the suspect got away, the fight led to the discovery of a key piece of evidence. Police said because of that they’ve been able to identify the man.

Now another store is coming forward saying they recognize the man as someone who’s stolen from them by shoving items down his pants.

IconoCLAD said the serial shoplifter started throwing punches when they tried to prevent him from stealing from them Wednesday afternoon.

The shop has now dubbed him the “no-pants bandit,” because of an incident that involved the man’s pants, or lack thereof.

IconoCLAD is a consignment store, meaning they sell other people’s clothing. Consignors get a percentage of the profit, so the business says any theft doesn’t just affect them.

“Stealing from local businesses hurts people,” IconoCLAD store manager Molly Kiefer said.

On Wednesday, when the man later identified by police as Dallas Tall walked into the store, clerks recognized him from a recent incident caught on IconoCLAD cameras.

“He grabs a pair of pants, pops into a very, very back little corner, drops his pants and puts on another pair,” Kiefer said, describing what they saw the man do on surveillance a few weeks ago.

When they realized it was the same person on Wednesday, Kiefer said they called police immediately and kept an eye on him. Meanwhile, they said the man started his shoplifting antics.

“This man decided that he wanted to walk around and shove about eight things into his jacket,” she said.

The suspect began to walk toward the door, and Kiefer said the store’s owner told him they noticed he had items he hadn’t paid for.

“When we asked if he would pay for those items, he decided to just start shoving instead and there was a little bit of a brawl in the store,” she said.

Their surveillance cameras caught the fight on tape. You see the suspect wrestle with the store owner. The fight ends up outside, where police said the man threw punches at the store owner.

During the fight, Kiefer said something fell out of the man’s pocket. He ended up jumping into a car and speeding away, she indicated, leaving his shoe, hat and a very important piece of evidence behind.

“We were able to find his phone and get some information on him,” Kiefer said.

Information that included the man’s name.

At first, the name Dallas Tall didn’t mean much to fellow local business Guitar Czar, but seeing his face helped them figure out their own recent shoplifting case.

“Pulled up the mug shot, I was like, ‘Oh, yep. That's him,’” said store clerk Kameron Anton.

Anton said a couple weeks ago a man came into the store and left with $1,000 worth of retail items.

They, too, have the whole thing captured on surveillance with a clear picture of the man’s face.

“Walked in the acoustic room and then just like, Oh! Down the pants,” Anton said, describing where he saw the suspect hide some of the stolen items.

While Salt Lake City Police said they can’t say if the two incidents are related, for the two community businesses, they hope the man is caught and faces consequences—so the shoplifting spree can come to an end.

“Dude. Why you gotta steal from a local shop?!” Anton asked.

A look into Tall’s past shows he has a lengthy criminal history. Court records show he is currently out on a $100,000 bond and awaiting trial for a case involving a few felony charges of Securities Fraud.

Salt Lake City Police said Thursday not only have they identified Dallas Tall as the suspect in the IconoCLAD robbery, they are screening charges of theft and assault against him.

The owner of IconoCLAD suffered bumps and bruises in the fight, but will be okay.