A Danbury couple who are TikTokers with a reputation for dressing up in fancy clothing and staging glitzy events in such places as New York City face up to 15 years in jail or a $35,000 fine for going on a $1 million two-month shoplifting spree at Lululemons in five states, Minnesota police said.
Jadion Richards, AKA Jay Icon, 44, and his wife Akwele Nickeisha Lawes-Richards, AKA Paparazzi Princess Apple, 45, of 23 Turner Road, Danbury, were each charged with organized retail theft (previously engaged patterned retail theft) by Ramsey County, Minnesota, police on Nov. 15. The couple, who have a following in Jamaica, were charged under a new Minnesota law signed by Gov. Tim Waltz last year to control the rash of such thefts at clothing stores.
The couple was charged for felonies committed in Roseville, Woodbury, Minnesota, a police report showed. Richards was released on $100,000 bail and Lawes-Richards on a $30,000 bail. They are due back in Ramsey court on Dec. 16 at 1:30 p.m.
Ramsey police reported that the couple operated a complex fraud return scheme where they stole thousands of dollars’ worth of high-end clothing, bags, backpacks and wallets from a Lululemon store and returned them to another Lululemon store for cash or credit.
The shoplifting spree included stores in Minnesota, Connecticut, Colorado, New York, and Utah from Sept. 1, 2024-Nov. 14, 2024, police said.
Several TikTok accounts have cited Jay Icon as a “dancehall promoter” and “Paparazzi Princess Apple” as a performer who looks up to the celebrity pop singer Nicki Manaj. TikTok accounts from Jay Icon and Paparazzi Princess Apple show photos and videos of the two modeling very glitzy and expensive clothing.
A complaint filed in Ramsey County 2nd Judicial District Court gave the following details of the couple’s alleged actions and subsequent arrest:
“On November 14, 2024, JADION ANTHONY RICHARDS (DOB: 09/26/1980) and AKWELE NICKEISHA LAWES-RICHARDS (DOB: 06/24/1979) went to Lululemon at Rosedale Center at 1595 Highway 36, Roseville, Ramey County… Employees had not seen the couple conceal anything, but when they left the store an alarm went off. Officer Pavlak stopped the couple who denied stealing anything. Richards said he was being racially profiled, and he claimed employees set off the alarm on purpose. Officer Pavlak identified Richards from a New York learner’s permit and Lawes-Richards from a Connecticut driver’s license. The couple were allowed to leave the store.
“Officer Pavlak noted that he had received a text from a Lululemon employee on November 13, 2024 regarding a large theft that had just occurred involving three suspects. It was only later that Officer Pavlak learned that the theft from the Rosedale Center Lulemon on November 13, 2024 involved Richards, Lawes-Richards, and an unidentified man. An organized retail crime investigator for Lulemon, RP, spoke to Officer Pavlak and relayed information that Richards, Lawes-Richards, and the unidentified man stole 45 items valued at $4,980 from the Roseville store on November 13, 2024. RP said the couple are responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars in loss to the store across the country. RP explained that the couple later commit fraudulent returns with the stolen items at different Lululemon stores.
“RP sent Officer Pavlak surveillance video from the November 13, 2024 theft at the Roseville Lululemon. Officer Pavlak confirmed Richards and Lawes-Richards were two of the thieves involved in the incident. On November 14, 2024, RP discovered that Richards and Lawes-Richards were at the Lululemon in Woodbury.
“Woodbury officers arrested the couple. Officers recovered a wallet with different credit card and debit cards that Richards had concealed in his buttocks. Richards had a JW Marriot key card in his possession when arrested. Officers recovered an elastic waistband from Lawes-Richards’ waist when she was arrested. Officers found (a) rented Tucson in the parking lot. Richards declined a custodial statement. Lawes-Richards was advised of her constitutional rights and agreed to speak to police. She denied having been at Lululemon on November 13, 2024. She denied stealing from the store.
“Further investigation revealed that Richards had rented a room at a JW Marriott in Bloomington. Hotel employees said Richards had asked to move his checkout time to 4:00 PM on November 14, 2024. Staff checked the room at 4:10 PM and found 12 suitcases had been left inside the room. Staff checked 3 of the suitcases to see who they belonged to. The suitcases contained Lululemon clothing with their tags still attached.
“Officer obtained a search warrant for the hotel room and recovered the suitcases and their contents. Officers estimated that the suitcases contained Lululemon clothing worth more than $50,000.”
The complaint goes on to describe similar thefts in Colorado between Oct. 29, 2024 and Oct. 30, 2024, involving Richards and Lawes-Richards and an unidentified woman. According to police, the group worked together using specific organized retail crime tactics such as blocking and distraction of associates to commit large thefts. They selected coats and jackets and held them up as if they were looking at them in a manner that blocked the view of staff and other guests while they selected and concealed items. They removed security sensors using a tool of some sort at multiple stores.
The Lululemon investigator noted that Richards typically entered the store first, made a small purchase of one or two cheap items. Then, security sensors would be removed from the items Richards purchased, and he paid with a credit card. Richards then returned to the sales floor where, with the help of Lawes-Richards, they removed a security sensor from another item. They then put the removed sensor back onto an item Richards just purchased.
During the two-day period in Colorado, the investigator documented at least $32,000 that the couple stole from Lululemon stores. On Nov. 1, 2024 the group reappeared in New York State. They conducted unverified exchanges at various stores around New York and Connecticut over the next few days, according to the complaint. An unverified exchange is when someone comes in to exchange items without a receipt for new or different items. The group selected a variety of new clothes at this new store and brought everything to the counter. The store employee would then proceed with the exchange.
One example described in the complaint said they brought in 12 stolen items that cost $1,875 in total to a store on the East Coast. They would select 11 or so different items to be exchanged at the new store. The total cost for the new items always slightly exceeded the value of the stolen items being “returned.” They then paid the difference for the exchange with a credit card. Staff would bag up the items and provide them with a receipt.
The complaint alleges Lululemon refunded Richards almost $100,000 to one of his cards. The total amount of money refunded between all six cards is close to $500,000. Lululemon also suffered a financial loss on the initial theft since those stores. The total loss to Lululemon with Richards, Lawes-Richards and their group the investigator identified so far is closer to $1,000,000.
