'It moved me': Person returns stolen Prada bag to Halifax store; owner donates proceeds

Every day, both small and big businesses are falling victim to theft.

In most cases stolen merchandise is gone forever, but the owner of one Halifax vintage store says she's grateful a recent theft attempt was anything but normal.

Laura McNutt, owner and operator of Kings Pier Vintage, says a person whose identity she did not want to disclose stole a Prada handbag from the store on Nov. 27.

McNutt says the purse was being sold for $365.

“Which, in the Prada luxury bag world is modest, but in my world that’s a lot of money,” says McNutt. “It clearly was a valuable piece.”

McNutt says she was able to quickly identify the person she alleges stole the bag after going through the store’s security camera footage.

“I dug a little deeper and actually watched as this person took the purse and tucked it inside another bag and left the store,” she says. “Best-case scenario was that she would not repeat at my business. That was what I was really hoping for.”

After believing she would never see the purse again, McNutt says she was stunned at what happened next.

“I received a phone call the next morning (from) an anonymous number,” she explains. “And they asked to meet in person.”

McNutt says the same person she believes stole the purse not only wanted to arrange to give the purse back, but to have a conversation with her.

She obliged.

“(The person) arrived, passed me the bag that was in the exact same condition as when it left the shop," she says. “It wasn’t even unzipped, it still had the tags, still had the stuffing in it.”

McNutt says the person was extremely emotional and took full accountability.

“There appeared to be significant sincerity in her admission,” she says. “It moved me.”

The store owner says she wasn’t interested in pressing charges and cared more about the lawfulness of her store.

"Its not about shaming an individual or (having) a ‘gotcha’ kind of strategy. I want to restore preservation of my inventory and safety of my staff. And protection of what is our domain,” she says.

McNutt says she couldn’t resell the bag “in good conscience," so she decided to donate the purse’s proceeds to the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia.

She says she received multiple offers to buy the purse, eventually selling it to a woman in Cape Breton.

McNutt believes several lessons could be learned from the situation.

“(Including) a sensitivity to appreciating everybody’s stories and not reacting in haste,” she says.

Simultaneously, she wants to increase awareness of the impacts theft has on businesses.

"Theft isn't a sport … there has to be more awareness about what the effects are, both to the culprit and the victim,” she says.

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page.