A brazen shoplifter known around the South Island allegedly took more than $1500 of clothes from a Dunedin store before leaving, and giving the finger to shocked staff.

It was shaping up to be a quiet Wednesday afternoon for Oliver Milner, who manages Frontrunner and Fridge Freezer Icebox in Dunedin, until a female customer walked in.

“She was nonchalantly eating an ice cream while browsing the North Face jackets,” Milner said.

Milner told her the jackets had a 20% discount, and she responded with a smile.

Holding two jackets and then two pairs of pants, she moved to the front of the store before crouching down, stuffing them into a bag and “bolting out the door”.

Milner ran after her but she became aggressive, firing off explicit language as he called out to her to stop.

“There is not much you can do without assaulting someone,” he said.

He followed her to the corner where her car was parked, as his niece – who had been working in the store – snapped pictures of her and a video.

Those images were uploaded to the Dunedin News Facebook page, and within minutes the pair had the alleged offender’s name.

That name, and the vehicle’s registration were given to police.

Constable Nick Turner said the woman was “known to a lot of people” from Dunedin to Christchurch for dishonesty offending.

Police were “actively looking for her”, he said.