--- title: Girl Scouts Stop Selling Cookies to Stop Shoplifting Ring description: “We caught a bad guy.” canonical: https://time.com/25093/girl-scouts-take-a-break-from-selling-cookies-to-bust-shoplifters/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-14T16:38:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:07:49.099Z og:title: Girl Scouts Take a Break From Selling Cookies to Bust Shoplifters og:description: “We caught a bad guy.” og:url: https://time.com/25093/girl-scouts-take-a-break-from-selling-cookies-to-bust-shoplifters/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d7cea7b263da10c/698683fd35ba6f580ac00cb5/160975415-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Girl Scouts Sell Cookies From Street Trucks In New York City og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Girl Scouts Take a Break From Selling Cookies to Bust Shoplifters twitter:description: “We caught a bad guy.” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d7cea7b263da10c/698683fd35ba6f580ac00cb5/160975415-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Girl Scouts Take a Break From Selling Cookies to Bust Shoplifters by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Mar 14, 2014 4:38 PM UTC  <> on February 8, 2013 in New York City. <> on February 8, 2013 in New York City.John Moore—Getty Images by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Mar 14, 2014 4:38 PM UTC Fueled by the power of Thin Mints, [Texas Girl Scout troop 129007 took a break from selling cookies outside a grocery store to fight some crime](http://www.click2houston.com/news/girl-scouts-mothers-help-catch-thieves/24949896). (I spy a made-for-_Disney_ movie in the making). The girls told a local news station that suspicions were raised when they spotted a man sneakily pushing a full shopping cart out of the HEB grocery store. The girls went to the store employees who found out that the man and an accomplice were stealing upwards of $2,000 in merchandise. “He was stealing a lot of stuff,” said Girl Scout Hailey Matthews. “We caught the bad guy.” But at the end of the day, it was still all about business. Crime fighting inspired the HEB staff to go outside and buy some Samoas. Said Hailey, “I was excited that she bought $100 worth of cookies.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/25093/girl-scouts-take-a-break-from-selling-cookies-to-bust-shoplifters/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/25093/girl-scouts-take-a-break-from-selling-cookies-to-bust-shoplifters/"},"headline":"Girl Scouts Take a Break From Selling Cookies to Bust Shoplifters","datePublished":"2014-03-14T16:38:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:07:49.099Z","description":"“We caught a bad guy.”","url":"https://time.com/25093/girl-scouts-take-a-break-from-selling-cookies-to-bust-shoplifters/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Texas","Crime","cookies","Girl Scouts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d7cea7b263da10c/698683fd35ba6f580ac00cb5/160975415-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d7cea7b263da10c/698683fd35ba6f580ac00cb5/160975415-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Girl Scouts Sell Cookies From Street Trucks In New York City","caption":"Girl Scouts Sell Cookies From Street Trucks In New York City","creditText":"John Moore—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/25093/girl-scouts-take-a-break-from-selling-cookies-to-bust-shoplifters/","name":"Girl Scouts Take a Break From Selling Cookies to Bust Shoplifters"}}]}] ```