Shoplift suspect also charged with kidnapping
A Spartanburg, South Carolina, man is in jail after he allegedly fled the scene of a shoplifting with an unwilling passenger in his car. An officer had just cleared a call at Westgate Mall when he saw a man run out of Sears and throw an armful of clothes into a parked car on Saturday afternoon. The suspect looked “shocked” when he saw the officer, according to a police report. The suspect, 48-year-old Rodney Dennis Donnelly, got behind the wheel and left when the officer tried to stop him. A woman in Donnelly’s car tried to escape as he held her in the car.
The report says the passenger tried to jump from the moving vehicle into the parking lot as the officer helplessly watched. She managed to get away and ran towards the officer’s patrol vehicle after Donnelly stopped. The woman told police Donnelly, a friend of hers, was giving her a ride when he said he needed to pick up something at Sears. She told police she didn’t know he had criminal plans and once she realized he had stolen items, asked to be let out of the car but was held against her will. Donnelly admitted to stealing the $360 worth of clothing. He reportedly told police he did not want to go back to jail. Donnelly remains in the Spartanburg County Detention Center on Monday for charges of kidnapping, resisting arrest and shoplifting. [Source: WSPA7 News]
Man jailed on $75,000 bond in alleged store theft
A Greenback, Tennessee, man found himself in jail with a massive $75,000 bond on a misdemeanor shoplifting charge this week. The high bond was assigned less than a month after he was cited on the same charge and nearly two months after being arrested on charges of DUI and vandalism. Thomas Alvin Carter, 54, Kirk Road, Greenback, was arrested Tuesday evening on a charge of theft by shoplifting and booked into the Blount County jail on a $75,000 bond. Jail records show he was released on bond Thursday. Carter was arrested Tuesday, the same day he was scheduled to appear at a hearing in Blount County General Sessions Court to address a separate shoplifting charge from March 30. Court records show nothing to indicate he missed that hearing, and jail records show he was booked Tuesday evening on the other theft charge.
While the citation stemmed from a March 30 incident at the Maryville Walmart in which Carter reportedly left with an unclear amount of merchandise, the theft charge he was arrested on stems from an earlier incident at the same store dating back to March 19, records show. After being arrested and placed in the back of the cruiser, Carter is accused of kicking and breaking the door. Carter was also charged with vandalism and cited on charges of disorderly conduct, unlawful removal or alteration of a license plate, driving an unregistered vehicle, failure to use a turn signal, following too close and violations of the proof of insurance, registration and seat belt laws. Carter is scheduled to appear at a 1:30 p.m. May 16 hearing in Blount County General Sessions Court on all those charges, as well as the two theft charges. [Source: The Daily Times]
Robbery ends in smashed squad car, struggle with police
A botched store rip-off in Central Fresno, California, ended with a smashed squad car, several other vehicles damaged, a suspect struggling with police, and two other suspects in custody. It started at the Family Dollar Store Manchester Center. Police say suspects 24-year old Deloise Ford and 18-year old Cheyenne Carter entered the store and ran out with food and other merchandise. A clerk followed them out and took a picture of the vehicle’s license plate. Police say the driver saw what the clerk was doing and drove away at a high rate of speed northbound on Blackstone. Police say she ran a red light and collided with another car in the intersection at Blackstone and Clinton. At this point police officers who were in pursuit caught up to the getaway vehicle. Police say suspect Ford then rammed the front of the squad car with her vehicle and continued to try to get away on Blackstone.
The squad car that had been hit continued to chase the vehicle, which made a reckless eastbound turn onto Cornell Avenue where she hit a parked car. The vehicle then continued eastbound on Cornell before turning onto Effie street. Police say Ford then jumped out of the car that continued to roll driverless with suspect Carter in the passenger seat. The car then veered off the road and hit two more parked cars. Carter was taken into custody. As officers were conducing an investigation a third woman identified as 26-year old Ariel White approached officers and began to obstruct the investigation. She struggled with the officers physically before being put in the back of a squad car where she then began to kick the interior. She was finally taken to jail in a prisoner transport wagon. Ford was arrested for felony assault on an officer, felony evading, hit and run, theft, and resisting arrest. She is also charged with driving with a suspended license and felony probation violations. Carter was arrested for theft. White was arrested for resisting arrest and on a $10,000 DUI warrant. [Source: YourCentralValley]
Drug store chain has a major security problem
Lax security at Duane Reade stores on the Upper West Side has led to a surge in thefts — and an influx of criminals far more dangerous than petty shoplifters, cops warn. An astounding 42 percent of the total 414 petit larcenies reported in the 20th Precinct between Jan. 1 and April 22 involved Duane Reade locations, according to NYPD statistics. That’s 180 incidents at its eight stores in the neighborhood — or 35 percent more than the same period last year, police said. The thefts are perpetrated almost exclusively by crooks traveling from outside the precinct to prey on the stores because, unlike other city Duane Reades, the Upper West Side locations don’t have armed security guards, said the precinct’s newly minted commanding officer, Capt. Timothy Malin. “There’s a reason that a Bronx criminal says, ‘OK, I’m gonna take the time to go to Manhattan, the Upper West Side,’ ” Malin said. “Because there’s a security guard with a gun in the Bronx, but here, there’s not.”
The frustrated top cop said that when he presented his findings to Duane Reade security honchos, they argued that it was cheaper to write off the thefts than invest in guards. “They just provided a cost-benefit analysis,” Malin said. Among the theft suspects busted at the Duane Reade on Broadway near West 63rd Street this year was Wesley Walker, a reputed Bronx Bloods gangbanger with prior busts for rape and robbery. The NYPD has become a de facto security force for the Walgreens-owned pharmacy chain — eating up valuable time that cops could be spending addressing other issues in the neighborhood, Malin said. A Duane Reade spokesman said, “We are constantly evaluating our security measures … and place security officers in locations as needed,” adding that they “welcome input from police on how we can best deploy resources.” [Source: New York Post]
Shoplifting suspect accused of stealing $300 in champagne
Last week, on the evening of April 16, officers responded to Target in Watertown, Massachusetts, for a report of a detained shoplifter. Officers met Target asset protection associates in the parking lot of the store. A suspect carrying a brown luggage bag walked through the parking lot and upon observing the police officers he dropped the luggage that contained five bottles of champagne valued at $297.44. After a brief foot pursuit, police apprehended him. [Source: WickedLocal]
Police sergeant accused of shoplifting from retailer
A Gulfport, Florida, police officer is accused of shoplifting at Walmart in St. Petersburg, Florida. According to WFLA News Channel 8, St. Petersburg police approached Gulfport Police Sergeant Matthew Parks and his wife on Friday after Walmart reported that the couple didn’t pay for items in the self-checkout line. The items, the outlet reported, cost less than $100. Parks and his wife were not arrested because they both have clean records and qualified for the Adult Pre-Arrest Diversion Program, which allows people to avoid arrest if they committed a minor and isolated offense. Instead of the misdemeanor going on a criminal record, offenders receive penalties of community service and restitution. Parks has been with the Gulfport Police Department since 2001, according to the department’s website. He was promoted in 2013 to sergeant after serving as a patrol officer and detective. [Source: Bradenton Herald]