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2 Westwood Police Investigations Lead to Separate Charges of Shoplifting, Larceny
Westwood Minute has recently learned that following Westwood Police detective investigations, two women from Dorchester and Providence, Rhode Island face separate charges of shoplifting and larceny, respectively. The initial investigations in these two cases were previously reported in the article titled, Police Log: Large Group Fails to Intervene in Juvenile Fight During Football Game, Scrap Collector Charged with Larceny. Additional details are below.
Shoplifter Switches Price Tags
In the early evening of September 22, 2023, police learned from Target store staff that a female appeared to have stolen from the store on six occasions in the past three months. She appeared to substitute price stickers of more expensive items with price stickers from fifty-cent plastic cups and pay the lower price at the self-check register. During the period of July through September, the store's staff suspected the woman of stealing $623 worth of merchandise.
The store provided her credit card information to police, but the name on the card did not match with any names in the police database. However, a detective determined that the name used on the credit card was a variation of the name of a woman who bore a strong resemblance to the suspected shoplifter. Additionally, another detective discovered an incriminating Facebook entry of the woman. She appeared to be wearing an item of clothing that had been stolen from Target.
A detective contacted the woman, a 29 year-old from Dorchester. However, she did not agree to meet or make admissions. Police are charging the woman with six counts of shoplifting by price tag tampering.
Shoplifting in an Uber Ride
On the morning of September 20, 2023, police took a report from a Wegmans store employee who reported that her purse stolen after she left it at the store's self-checkout register. Another person was seen taking the purse from the register, loading it with groceries, and leaving the store in an SUV.
Police determined that the SUV was an Uber ride. Police questioned the Uber driver and learned that he had picked up the woman from the Route 128 Amtrak Station before driving her to Wegmans and then to a Norwood business.
A number of days later, a detective located the suspect at the Route 128 Amtrak station. He noticed that from the station, she entered a Uber which drove down University Avenue to a Norwood business. She exited the car. The detective approached.
With the assistance of a co-worker who acted as a translator, the woman, a 46 year old from Providence, Rhode Island, informed the detective that she had taken the purse back to her home. She claimed to have attempted to find the purse's owner through Facebook, and conveyed that she was in too much of a hurry to give the lost purse to Wegmans store staff.
The detective made arrangements to retrieve the purse from the woman the following day, and did so, at the location of the Norwood business. The owner of the purse confirmed that all lost items were accounted for.
Police are charging the suspect with one count of larceny.
