A 31-year-old woman selected two pairs of shoes worth $100, hid them, and tried to walk out of a West Valley City J.C. Penney.

In a Taylorsville Harmon's, a 24-year-old man stuffed strawberry milk, vanilla pudding and salmon rolls into his coat and ran before he was caught. At a Wal-Mart there, security cameras caught a woman slipping an electric toothbrush and razors into her purse.

Thefts such as these have driven the number of shoplifting arrests to their highest levels in years in several Utah cities, and police lay at least part of the blame on the recession.

Nationally, a survey by a trade organization representing more than 100,000 stores, shows that a majority of retailers have seen an increase in amateur shoplifting and that done by organized crime during the past four months.

In St. George, police collared 331 shoplifters in 2007, according to statistics kept by the Department of Public Safety. Those numbers continued to rise in 2008, surpassing 400, according to the department.

The numbers seem to be continuing to rise in 2009. A February 2008 to February 2009 comparison shows shoplifting arrests in St. George rose from 24 to 30.

"From what I'm seeing, the economy is forcing people who otherwise might not shoplift to shoplift," said St. George Police Sgt. James Van Fleet.

Instead of big-ticket items that would fetch a high sale price, more people are stealing necessities such as groceries, said St. George police Lt. Mark Brklacich. On March 9, for example, a woman walked out of a Lin's Market with a cart full of Ramen noodles, oatmeal, cake mix and ketchup.

Though few people tell police that a job loss or other economic reasons led to shoplifting, "it makes you wonder if that's the reason why," said Brklacich, noting many of the accused could be embarrassed more than anything else.

"They don't want to blame stuff, they want to take the citation and go on their way," he said.

In Salt Lake County, many low-level, misdemeanor shoplifting cases involve people stealing clothes, while items they lift from the grocery sector are usually mouthwash, cigarettes or beer, said Patrick Anderson, head of the Salt Lake Legal Defenders Association, which represents indigent criminal defendants. If someone is shoplifting food, "there's a possibility that it was done out of sheer ignorance" he added, because the hungry can turn to soup kitchens and food pantries, where few or no questions are asked about need.

Catherine Cleveland, a Salt Lake lawyer representing defendants accused of shoplifting who can pay for an attorney, said the majority of her clients are stay-at-home mothers, between the ages of 30 to 50, who "go out on the spur of the moment and do something stupid. "

One such client was a woman who recently stole several outfits from Old Navy for her children. Like the majority of her clients, the woman could have afforded to buy the items, said Cleveland, "but I do wonder if the impulse to shoplift is greater when people are worrying about the economy."

The nation's financial meltdown prompted Layton Hills Mall to increase its security staff and work with the Layton Police Department to beef up patrols through the parking lots. The move came last year because the mall management had anticipated the possibility of an increase in car break-ins and shoplifting as a result of a stumbling economy.

If a recession makes some people steal, it also makes businesses whose profits are suffering become more wary. Stepped-up store security is part of the reason why shoplifting arrests are increasing in West Valley City, said Capt. Tom McLachlan.

Last year, there were 1,495 arrests in WVC for shoplifting, the highest level in eight years, according to state and local numbers.

Like almost all police departments, West Valley leaves catching shoplifters in the act up to stores, though the department does offer training on loss-prevention techniques .

"We are busy enough that our officers don't have the uncommitted time to go into the store and perform that function," McLachlan said. "The store people may be employing better methods. If they apprehend more people who are shoplifting, the rates might go up."

Other factors, such as people who steal to pay for a drug habit, probably also come into play, he said. "I don't think it's a very simple answer."

In Taylorsville, arrests are at the highest level since 2005, when the city broke away from the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Department to form its own police force. Last year, there were 683 arrests for shoplifting, compared with 595 the year before.

Detective Shannon Bennett, who investigates property crime, said the economy could be affecting shoplifting numbers, but he also named drugs as a factor.

"Most property crime revolves around drugs and people trying to find a way to make a quick buck to get drugs," he said. "I don't think it's as bad as one might think. We haven't seen an exponential increase in crime."

Shoplifting also isn't the biggest worry for retailers -- it's theft from organized criminals to finance gang activities and drugs buys, said James Olsen, president of the Utah Retail Merchants Association. Retailers call it shrinkage, when the inventory numbers are less than what's recorded at the checkout stand. Such losses came from internal theft, shoplifting and organized retail crime.

"These are organized theft rings that come in and steal large quantities of high-priced items that are easily fenced, such as over-the-counter medications and health and beauty aids," he said. "They just grab things and run."

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Nationwide problem » Utah retailers aren't alone in their concerns. A survey of America's largest retailers reports an increase in retail crime associated with an economy in distress. Seventy-two percent of respondents said they're seeing an increase in organized retail crime and 61 percent said they're seeing an increase in amateur shoplifting. The survey by the trade organization Retail Industry Leaders Association asked retail loss-prevention professionals to report changes in crimes over the past four months.

Respondents included 32 of the nation's largest retailers in such sectors as grocery, speciality store, apparel, electronics and appliances.

Retailers also reported an upward trend in regions not typically prone to such increases. Although cities and urbanized states often are the first to record increases in crime, survey results showed that retail theft has spilled over into rural areas.

Unlike shoplifting by amateurs, however, thefts by organized crime elements are less likely to decline as the economy improves because gangs have become dependent on stealing, Paul Jones of the retail association, said in a statement.

"These trends confirm that retail criminals are seeking to capitalize on the current economic climate to expand their activities," he said. "Their resulting ability to fund other crimes should be a concern to everyone."

lwhitehurst@sltrib.com dawn@sltrib.com