In the fall of 1996 I helped open the new Costco in Brooklyn, the first two story Costco in N. America as a manager. I worked 16/7 for 8 weeks to help ensure we opened in December 1996 to capture holiday sales. My first week on the job, I saw my immediate boss(Merch Mgr) and my GM talking to a guy in the dim light of the unfinished big box, as I approached I noticed the guy in a leather trenchoat talking animatedly to my Bosses and as I got closer begin to jab his forefinger into Greg Grover's, my Merch Manager, chest as my GM Mark Hanna stood by in alarm. The guy in the leather trenchcoat was telling Greg." I don't appreciate you guys tellin' my guys, what we can or cannot do on this location." He turned his head to me as I approached and I noticed his right ear was cleanly cut off, from the top of the earlobe down and my "spidey" senses went crazy. My Merch Manager began to buck up like he was hard (he wasn't) but my GM intervened and came between them to de-escalate the situation and put his arm around the guy with the leather trenchcoat, whom I found out was the Carpenter's Union Delegate.
After we opened the first week of December, we still had contractors in the warehouse finishing up loose ends. One day as I was leaving the warehouse through the receiving dock I noticed a bunch of contractors around the receiving desk, joking and socializing with Angel Barrios, the Loss Prevention officer monitoring the Receiving Dock entrance door. My Spidey sense went off again and I said to myself. "These motherfuckers are up to something and they're trying to get Angel off guard, to pull off a heist. " I immediately went to the Loss Prevention Manager Karim Zeffouni and reported my concerns. He laughed me off in his imperious Libyan accent. "Nothing comes in or out of this warehouse without my knowledge." I said okay and went home for the weekend. When I returned to work Monday morning at 2am, the fucking place is crawling with Cops and they're dusting the office for fingerprints. Karim Zeffouni is there and glances at me sheepishly so I asked him what happened and he tells me the warehouse was robbed by two men posing as contractors, I walked away shaking my head.
Postscript, Greg Grover is the GM of the Edison, N.J. Costco and Karim Zeffouni a Regional Vice President in the N.E. region.
Here's the Court trancript.
THE TRIAL
Taken in the light most favorable to the State, the evidence at trial established the following: On the evening of December 15, 1996, Mike Crosby, assistant general manager; Dean Pitter, administrative manager; Abel Stephenson, seasonal supervisor; and Angel Barrios, security guard, were working at a Costco retail warehouse located on 3rd Avenue between 37th and 39th Streets in Brooklyn, New York. Barrios controlled the receiving dock door with a button and intercom by his desk. A monitor showed the area outside the receiving dock.

At approximately 8:45 p.m., Crosby saw on the monitor that a man had approached the door of the receiving dock but did not seek entry. Crosby asked Barrios to investigate. Barrios, upon returning from his investigation, stated that the man, who was wearing a blue winter jacket, had walked away. Crosby went to his office shortly afterwards.

At approximately 9:15 p.m., another man, later identified by Barrios as Anthony Paccione, sought entry to the loading dock, telling Barrios via the intercom that he was an electrician. Barrios asked him what company he was with, but the man, instead of answering, asked for "Angel." Barrios let Anthony in after hearing his own name. Anthony was wearing gloves, had a walkie-talkie radio, and carried two bottles of wine. Holding the bottles, he said, "Hey Angel, this is for you, this from my company," and then asked for "Mike." Barrios told Anthony that he could not accept gifts and asked him to sign in. Mike Crosby did not respond when Barrios attempted to reach him via walkie-talkie. At around this time, departing employees, as well as a call from his girlfriend, distracted Barrios. Two more men entered Costco, one of whom was the man in the blue jacket whom Barrios had seen earlier. As the two men walked past Barrios to the sales floor, Anthony said, "Those are my boys." Anthony stayed with Barrios for a few more minutes before going out to the sales floor as well. Barrios did not know anything was wrong until he heard the emergency exit alarm some time later. At trial, Barrios described the man with the bottles, whom he identified in court as Anthony Paccione, as 6 feet tall, in his late 40s, wearing dirty clothing, with rotted teeth and weighing about 280 pounds. He estimated that he spent a total of seven minutes with Anthony.

A man, whom Crosby later identified as Michael Paccione, tapped Crosby on the right side of his head with a gun and said, "this is a stickup, do as I tell you and no one will get hurt." Crosby saw a six-inch long black pistol with a magazine in the handle after he looked over his right shoulder. Crosby glanced at Michael and was instructed not to look at him. Crosby looked at him again and was told again not to look at him. Crosby described the man as a white male wearing a brown tweed jacket and work gloves. Another man, who was not identified, was wearing a blue jacket and holding a revolver pointed at Crosby.

Michael and the third man led Crosby to the vault. Pitter, who was inside counting money, opened the door. Pitter saw the corner of the face of one of the robbers and saw that the robber was wearing a tweed cap. The two men pushed Crosby into Pitter, who fell on the ground. The first gunman told Crosby to open the safe and to get on the ground. Crosby heard the men take plastic bags from a toolbox and fill them with money. Using duct tape, they bound Crosby's and Pitter's legs and tied their hands behind their backs with plastic ties. Anthony entered the vault. Although Pitter and Crosby did not see Anthony, they were aware there were at least three men because they heard them whispering, going through the safe, and putting money into trash bags. They heard the robbers tear a security camera off the wall.
Crosby told the robbers, after being questioned, that there was recording equipment in the break room. Two robbers left while one kept bagging money. When the two other men returned, Crosby was told to open the safe that was on a time lock. Crosby lied and said he could not open it. They took Crosby's keys and said they were coming back in five minutes.

Once the emergency exit alarm sounded, Pitter slipped out of his wrist ties, and Crosby pressed a panic button and dialed 911 with his nose. Stephenson, who had been held at gunpoint on the floor of the office, knocked on the vault door. Crosby opened it with his elbow, and Stephenson helped Crosby and Pitter get lose. The police arrived within minutes and discovered that the robbers had taken $168,000 in addition to a videocassette recorder and videotapes.

The prosecution put in evidence the imitation pistol, ammunition, tweed cap, duct tape, and walkie-talkie radio that the police recovered from Michael's home and the snub nose revolver and ammunition that the police recovered from Anthony's home. Crosby testified that the hat seized from Michael's home looked like the one the first robber wore. He also identified the imitation gun as looking like the one he saw used during the robbery. Barrios could not identify the walkie-talkie radio, and Stephenson said that the walkie-talkie he saw during the robbery was thicker and not the same length as the one taken from Michael's home. Pitter said the gun seized from Anthony's home looked "very similar" to one of the robber's guns, but could not say it was the same one.

The defense presented several witnesses. Most notably, two of Anthony's children testified that on December 15, 1996, they and their father watched football on television and that their father was on his back barely able to move that day because of back pain. One testified that Anthony went to the chiropractor the next day and was treated for four or five weeks. Michael's wife also presented alibi evidence that she thought, although she was not certain, that she had spent the day with her husband. On rebuttal, the prosecution introduced official National Football League records indicating that the Jets game for that week was on December 14, 1996, not on the day of the robbery.
https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/591475d0add7b049343b6f18