Brian from E Pine’s Fleet Feet sends word to fellow Capitol Hill merchants — be on the lookout for a notorious Seattle scam artist:

Yesterday we had an encounter with ‘Big Hands Guy’.  I was familiar with him from the last time he ripped off the store in 2006.  The hands are a big giveaway.  I managed to thwart his attempts to steal some inserts from us, and then I followed him out of the store threatening to call the cops.  He verbally berated me some highly insensitive language and then went on his way.  I want all retailers on Capitol Hill to be on the lookout for this guy.  If you ‘Google’ big hands guy Seattle, you’ll learn all you need to know about this infamous scam artist.  Just wanted to give you the opportunity to warn the retail community.

Here are some accounts about his exploits in other Seattle neighborhoods. His modus operandi in the past has been to sneakily attempt to return items plucked from the shelves on the same visit. Tricky! If you find him in your store, you might want to give SPD call. Of course, Brian says he did just that after Big Hands Guy left. The cops reportedly told him to call back if the man returned.