The theft of $1,500 worth of high-end cigars from a store in Verona may seem odd, but it’s becoming more common, police say.

In fact, it was at least the second time Verona News and Cigars fell victim to such a theft since December. At least two other cigar dealers in the Pittsburgh area also have experienced similar thefts in recent years.

Verona police Officer Thomas Dessell, who is investigating the Verona theft, said a number of other cigar shops across the Pittsburgh area have had similar experiences. While cigars are not a common product targeted by thieves, Dessell said he’s starting to see people try to steal cigars to resell them more often.

“These were high-end cigars that only cigar connoisseurs would want,” Dessell said.

In the latest Verona case, the store’s security footage shows a woman making off with six boxes of cigars just before 4 p.m. Sept. 26.

Joelle Strahler, a family friend of Verona News and Cigars owner John Henry, was in the store at the time of the theft. She said someone called in asking if the shop carried a certain brand of cigars. The person on the phone allegedly asked for the boxes to be set aside for them to come and buy.

“Four hours later, a person comes in — a different person than who called — and said, ‘Hey, I was told to come in and pick up the cigars you have,’ ” Strahler said.

When it came time to pay, Strahler said, there was a disagreement on how much the cigars were supposed to cost.

“She was asking for them for pretty much half off,” Strahler said.

As employees were on the phone with Henry to verify the price the woman mentioned, she picked up the boxes from behind the customer counter and ran out of the store.

“Nobody was hurt,” Strahler said. “There were no weapons.”

“We’re cooperating with the police,” Henry said in a statement. “We’re very hopeful someone will recognize the woman and come forward. We’re glad that nobody was injured and that our customers were safe. It’s sad to think that someone could come into our family-owned retail store and take what we’ve worked so hard for. We always try to maintain a safe and friendly environment.”

Police said the woman hasn’t been identified, but other cigar shops are being cooperative during the investigation.

“She has not (been identified), but I do have some leads that will hopefully aid me in identifying her,” Dessell said.

Strahler said the cigars were from West Tampa Tobacco, a high-end cigar company based in Florida. The woman took six boxes with 20 cigars in each box. Strahler said she posted stills from the store’s security footage on the Pittsburgh Cigar Club private Facebook group and explained what happened at Verona News to see if any other shop owners recognized the woman.

“This actually happened to (Verona News) last December,” Strahler said.

At that time, she also posted photos to the Facebook group and that helped police to make an arrest. Strahler said that, while the woman hasn’t been identified by other owners, similar incidents have occurred with two other cigar shops that didn’t report the theft. She didn’t specify which shops were stolen from. At least one of the stores declined to comment for this report.

“Since they didn’t have cameras, and they couldn’t show police what happened, they didn’t report it,” Strahler said. “(Cigar shops) try to work together. We’re not competing in any way whatsoever. We’re all in this together.”

Sean Keilich, manager of Leaf and Bean in the Strip District since 2020, said he had a run-in with the same man who stole from Verona News in December 2023. While the man was posing as a customer, he asked Keilich about a specific cigar. When Keilich went to find it for him, he swiped a box of cigars from one of the shelves and hid it in his coat.

“I noticed (the missing box) after he’d checked out,” Keilich said. “We had surveillance, but it was a little dated and the cameras didn’t capture continuous video. It would take snapshots. One picture the box was there, the next you saw me turning and the box was there. I turn back around and the box is missing from the photo.”

Keilich said the man both attempted to and successfully stole from the shop more than once. He said Leaf and Bean worked with the police to have him arrested last year. Before he was named manager in 2020, Keilich said another regular customer was caught stealing, as was another person.

Since then, Leaf and Bean has increased its security. The shop now is equipped with upgraded surveillance cameras and a video system. Keilich also said he sees the staff’s friendliness as a defense against potential theft as well.

“Our first line of defense is our hospitality,” Keilich said. “I’m not going up to a customer with the intent of theft prevention. My first intent is to help and get to know (the customer) a little bit.”

He said someone is a lot less likely to steal from someone who cares about how their day is going, throws them a corny joke or two and makes them smile. Keilich described cigar culture as a trusting community. He said it’s common that people come in and pick their own cigars.

“(Workers) are there to help and answer questions and give you the experience, but some people want to have that time to pick out their stuff,” Keilich said.

He said cigar shops try to support each other and, when there’s a theft, everyone is notified so other places can be on alert.

“The assumption is that, when there’s a theft, there’s only one victim — the owner — but it actually affects the entire community,” he said.

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