GILROY (KRON) — Police in Gilroy are stepping up patrols after two recent robberies at the popular shopping outlets there.

And the thief in one of the robberies might be trying to make amends by spreading some holiday cheer.

Gilroy Premium Outlet patrons aren’t quite sure what to think about the bizarre hold up earlier this week at a store that sells women’s plus-sized clothing.

Posing as a UPS deliveryman, the robber talked his way into the back door of the Lane Bryant store on Camino Arroyo Circle.

Convinced the man was armed, a clerk handed over an undisclosed amount of cash in what might seem to have been a routine stick up.

But after he got the cash, the robber locked the employees in a bathroom, pushed file cabinet in front of the door, told them to stay put for 10 minutes, and then said he was sorry and wished them a Merry Christmas before making his escape.

The incident touched a nerve with Ellen Rivera and Julie Nagel who think the thief may be desperate.

“In these times with home prices being so high, maybe he has a drug dependency,” Rivera said.

“I think it’s sad that this is what it’s come to that people have to rob other people just to stay in California,” Nagel added.

Off camera, several other shoppers were less forgiving. The UPS ruse, the suggestion of a gun, and ordering people into a bathroom are not the acts of a desperate man they said.

Love and cheer, sure, just not at the end of a gun.

It’s not clear if the lane Bryant robbery is related to an earlier smash and grab heist at a nearby store that sells sunglasses, but there was a guard posted outside Lane Bryant on Friday afternoon and security is being stepped up.WHAT OTHERS ARE CLICKING ON: 

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