Full Notification

On April 20, 2022, at about 9:50 am, a Simi Valley Police Officer went to Kays Bridal Shop to investigate a theft. When the Officer arrived, he made contact with the business owner and was told that a theft of a wedding dress had just occurred. The business owner provided the officer with video of the event. The video depicted two possible suspects. The officer accepted the video in good faith, believing that it was factual and supported the business owner’s allegation.

The officer completed a crime report and initiated a press release (Nixle), which contained a still photograph from the video supplied by the business owner. A brief description of the event and a copy of the photograph were also entered into various Simi Valley Police Department social media websites. This is a common police practice, done with the intent of identifying the people involved in criminal activity.

Today (April 21, 2022), at about 1:00 pm, the individuals depicted in the video contacted the police department and explained that the dress was mistakenly given to them by the business owner and therefore was not stolen. The business owner was contacted and confirmed that the dress was mistakenly given to the people depicted in the photograph and that a theft never occurred. The obviously upset business owner went on to explain that she simply gave the wrong dress to an innocent person who was in the store to retrieve lawfully purchased property.

This entire event was simply the result of an unfortunate set of circumstances brought about by the business owner when she mistakenly believed that she had been defrauded.

It is essential for the community to understand that sometimes after suspected crimes are reported, new information is provided that clarifies an event. In this case, the two persons in the photograph have been cleared of any wrongdoing. They did not commit a criminal act, display malice, or civil misconduct.