NYC Walgreens store keeping ice cream in chained freezer, locking up candy amid ongoing shoplifting frenzy

Photographs show a New York City Walgreens store has locked up its candy — and chained the doors to its ice cream freezer — in what the national chain calls an effort to combat rampant shoplifting.

Manhattan Walgreens shoppers looking to buy candy, ice cream and even coffee creamer at a store on Lexington Avenue near East 61st Street will first need to get past the locks and, in some cases, chains that protect the product, according to photographs taken Friday by Fox News Digital. 

When contacted by phone on Friday morning, a store clerk at the 773 Lexington Ave. location confirmed that even the ice cream freezer doors were chained closed with a lock, and told FOX Business, "It has to do with all the shoplifting."

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A corporate spokesperson called retail crime "one of the top challenges facing the industry today."

The spokesperson told FOX Business the company was taking measures, such as installing "anti-theft devices, to deter theft and ensure safety and security in our stores."

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"These steps are taken in response to theft data and for that reason only," the spokesperson said in an emailed response, "and these additional security measures allow us to improve on-shelf availability of products to customers."

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New York Police Department data show petit larceny, or the theft of goods valued at under $1,000, is up 33.9% year-to-date citywide as of Dec. 18. 

The NYPD’s 19th precinct, where the Walgreens store is located, has seen a 62.7% increase in petit theft so far this year as of Dec. 18. 

Brooke Curto contributed to this report.