(CHICAGO)  Three people are under arrest after a brazen shoplifting incident at a Lakeview store that sells lingerie and other sexual devices.

Mark Thomas, the owner of “Taboo Tabou” in the 800 block of West Belmont, told “The Big John Howell Show” on WLS that several people came into his store Sunday night, put merchandise in bags, and then ran out the door.

He’s applauding the performance of his female employees, who tried in vain to stop the thieves, saying “Our customers are rallying around the superstars I have for girls, who stood up to this.”

Thomas daughter Alexis called the two employees “Sex Store Superheroes.”

Ratero Walker, Deavin S. Oliver and Aaliyah Foster  | Chicago Police

She and her father and one of the employees drove down Belmont and spotted the thieves  trying to get on the Red Line at the Belmont Station.

We jumped out and one of my ladies starts screaming at the other one, ‘you’re the one that stole all my stuff.   Gimme my stuff back.’  And luckily the CTA security people and one of the guys with the K-9 unit with the dog there, they came up around us and came up around these three people, or two people and we were able to identify our merchandise literally sticking out of this one bag.”

Thomas says the thieves were part of a larger group that had gathered at the scene, some of whom brazenly tried to take the merchandise before their friends were arrested.

“And then even when we were on the el platform, and they stopped the el so they could grab a couple more people off the el, there was another six or eight of their friends up there going, ‘Oh well, if you’re taking them in, do you mind if I take my friend’s stuff’, i.e. the stolen stuff.”

Police arrested 19 year old Ratero Walker of South Suburban Dolton, 21 year old Deavin Oliver of the 8200 block of South Richmond Avenue in Chicago, and 20 year old Aaliyah Foster, of the 1800 block of South Sawyer in Chicago.   All three are charged with retail theft.   In court this week a judge set bond for each defendant at $10,000.   A fourth suspect was able to escape.

Thomas, who is a former candidate for 44th Ward Alderman,  blames what he says is a shortage of police officers in the City, saying “This goes back to the unpaid pensions.   And it goes back to the mess that we’re in.  We’re short a thousand police officers. We’re short 143 police officers in Lakeview.   We used to have police officers on foot patrol.  When we had that, we didn’t have this kind of mess.”

Thomas is also the owner of the iconic counterculture clothing store “The Alley”, which recently closed it’s doors.  Taboo Tabou was located inside “The Alley” and recently opened at a new location nearby.