Cheesy Bend Heist Caught on Camera

A Bend grocery store has found itself the victim of a cheesy heist. The brazen crime against Gouda and bleu cheese happened Tuesday night in the wine section of Whole Foods Market — and was caught on surveillance video.

Two women, a shopping cart, and nearly $600 worth of gourmet cheese wheels walked right out of the store.

“Watch how they smile when they walk by,” says the store manager as he’s showing us the store’s videotape.

The women are smiling in the video because it truly was that easy.

On the tape, you can see two women come into the Whole Foods Market in Bend around 7:30pm Tuesday.

A display of crackers, spreads and different cheeses must have caught their eye, especially the spendy stuff.

A Gouda cheese aged nine months is displayed in small wedges and in the whole wheel, priced at $300.

Watch the tape, and you see one woman pick up an entire wheel, the size of a small tire, and put it in the cart.

You can also hear what the store manager says happened next..

“She asked for a box,” he says. “Then we have a team member come and give them a box.”

The ladies box up the wheel and leave the camera’s view, grinning the whole way.

But it didn’t end there.

The store says these “cheese burglars” also snatched up a package of two wheels of expensive bleu cheese worth $270.

And it was easy to slip out.

“One of them went to the register, and the other slipped out with the cheese,” the manager explains.

“It’s pretty comical,” said shoppers Deri Frazee, who couldn’t help but laugh when she heard of the stinky cheese caper.

“I would say it’s someone who just did it because they could, because nobody needs $500 worth of cheese,” Frazee said.

Whether it was a spur of the moment crime, or a planned cocktail party in need, nearly $600 worth of anything stolen is serious to business and police.

“It is weird,” said another shopper, Kelli Shipman. “I guess it’s a sad reflection on what’s going on in our community right now.”

Bend police say the surveillance video is so good, they are reviewing leads and still investigating.

If you have any information, call police. You can also contact the Crime Stoppers tip line, at 1-877-876-TIPS; you can remain anonymous and could receive a cash reward.