Archive
Police officer injured by fleeing shoplifter www.privateofficer.com
A suspected shoplifter is facing more serious charges than he bargained for, including assault to kill, after allegedly striking a cop with his car while fleeing the Natick Collection mall.
State police arrested Anthony Saiete, 30, of Warwick, R.I., tonight on Route 495 north in Bolton early after troopers ended the pursuit by blowing out his sedan’s tires with stop sticks.
The front passenger door was still hanging off the vehicle from where it had hit a plainclothes Natick detective, a source said
Natick police Lt. Brian Grassey said Saiete will be charged with shoplifting in excess of $100, conspiracy, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a police officer, assault to kill, resisting arrest, failure to stop and creating a nuisance.
The alleged female accomplice he abandoned at the mall after she was detained by mall security who’d chased the couple from a Sunglass Hut is being charged with shoplifting in excess of $100 and conspiracy, Grassey said. She was identified tonight as Kimberly Carroll, 40, of Walpole.
Grassey said two plainclothes detectives from Natick police were at the mall about 4 p.m. “and made observations of what appeared to be a store larceny unfolding right in front of them.”
With the female suspect safely detained, the detectives saw the man get into his car after leaving his gal pal to face the music.
“One detective went to the driver’s side and ordered the driver to shut the car down,” Grassey said.
The other detective went to the passenger door and ordered the driver to do the same, but instead, Grassey said the driver “put the car into reverse” and struck the officer.
The detective was “transported to the hospital for observation,” Grassey said. “We do not know the nature of the injuries. They are not believed to be serious.
Follow Us On Twitter/privateofficer
Join Us At MySpace/privateofficernews
Join The National Association of Private Officers
Recent shoplifting arrests in Natick www.privateofficer.com
NATICK – A Worcester woman was arrested Friday and charged with shoplifting over $100in merchandise, police said.
Jartu Treh, 22, of 150 Chandler St., was arrested at the J.C. Penney at 2:03 p.m., police said
MILFORD – A North Providence, R.I., man was arrested Friday at Kohl’s Department store on Medway Road, police said.
Steven M. Verdone, 45, of 24 Olney Ave., Floor 3, was charged with shoplifting merchandise valued over $100 and larceny over $250, police said.
Join Us At MySpace/privateofficernews
Join The National Association of Private Officers
Shoplifters struggle with security to escapee www.privateofficer.com
Shoplifters struggle with security to escapee http://www.privateofficer.com
Two suspected shoplifters struggled with a Neiman Marcus security guard for nearly a minute on Tuesday before one of them got away, police said.
Aretha L. Baker, 33, of Worcester, was arrested at 7:17 p.m. after she stole a $295 Gucci belt from the Natick Collection store, police spokesman Lt. Brian Grassey said.
Her accomplice, an unknown man, got away empty-handed, the lieutenant said.
The security officer told police he saw the pair walking around the store when the man took the expensive belt off the rack, handed it to Baker, who hid it in her jacket, Grassey said.
They left the store, and the guard confronted them.
“A struggle ensued, with the male trying to free this young lady from the grip of the store detective,” said Grassey. “The (security) video showed a violent…struggle.”
The store security officer was able to grab Baker and bring her back to the police officer. The video shows her accomplice walking off.
When police searched Baker, they found the belt, and a shirt stolen from Zara, another store in the mall, worth $30, Grassey said.
Baker, of 13 Merrifield St., was charged with larceny of property worth more than $250, receiving stolen property worth less than $250 and disorderly conduct.
Police are asking for help to identify the other suspect. He is described as approximately 5-feet-9 inches tall, with an athletic build.
Anyone with information are asked to call the Natick Police at 508-647-9500.
Get news alerts, officer down, weather emergency news in your mailbox! Sign up;adminassist@privateofficer.com
Join us at www.myspace.com/privateofficernews
Come be part of our social network! http://www.privateofficer.com
Store security officer injured in fracas www.privateofficer.com
Store security officer injured in fracas http://www.privateofficer.com
daily west news
A security guard was attacked on Wednesday as he tried to take a shoplifting suspect into custody, police said.
Daniel Gerard Smith, 21, of Dorchester was arrested after the 8:16 p.m. fracas in a Natick Collection parking garage, but two other suspects got away, police spokesman Lt. Brian Grassey said.
Lord & Taylor security guards were watching a man and a woman they said they recognized from a previous theft. The woman, who has not been identified, grabbed eight to 10 pairs of $110 gloves, and the couple, along with another man, left the store.
Police believe all three were working together, Grassey said.
Security caught up with them as the group entered the parking garage. Security guards grabbed the woman and she dropped the gloves. The men had climbed into a van.
“As (the security guard) was trying to take the woman into custody, (Smith) jumped out of the van and hit him in the head,” said Grassey. “This forced (the guard) to let go of the woman so he could defend himself.”
While the security guard and Smith struggled, the woman grabbed several of the pairs of the gloves, jumped in the van and drove away with the other man, the lieutenant said.
Several people called police to report the fight. Mall security came out and helped the Lord & Taylor security guard take Smith into custody, Grassey said.
The store believes the two who got away had $880 worth of gloves from the store.
Smith, of 20 Patterson St., was charged with assault and battery, disturbing the peace and larceny of property worth more than $250.
Smith was scheduled to be arraigned yesterday in Natick District Court, but a clerk said he had not been arraigned by 4 p.m. and the results of the arraignment would not be available until today.
Get news alerts, officer down, weather emergency news in your mailbox! Sign up;adminassist@privateofficer.com
Join us at www.myspace.com/privateofficernews
Come be part of our social network! http://www.privateofficer.com
Disabled woman claims mall guards harassed her www.privateofficer.com
Disabled woman claims mall guards harassed her http://www.privateofficer.com
metrowestdailynews.com
A woman with limited use of her legs and uses a motorized scooter to get around, said security at Natick Collection would not allow her to use her vehicle last week, but mall representatives said the problem was not the scooter but the commotion she caused.
Maryan Amaral of Newton visited the shopping center last Thursday evening to do some Christmas shopping and used her Izip i650 to move around the mall. Amaral has limited use of her legs and has difficulty lifting heavy objects following a car accident six years ago. Since then she has become an advocate for disabled rights and access.
“I can’t carry anything. If I go shopping, I have to have something to carry my items,” Amaral said. “I’m never quite sure how dependably I will be able to walk. I use a wheelchair all the time, but it is hard to push so I bought a scooter.”
Jennifer Kearney, general manager of Natick Collection, said security was called after a couple merchants in the mall complained that a woman was riding a scooter in their stores.
“First we received two complaints from retailers of someone driving around their store on a scooter, and weaving in and out of customers while they shopped,” Kearney said. “She was approached by security. We were not familiar with the scooter. It is not a wheelchair, it looked like a scooter.”
Amaral bought the scooter, which is about 3.5 feet long and 3 inches wide, from an online store called TheSuperKids.com.
“It’s promoted as a kids toy,” Amaral said. “I looked at others, but my criterion was what could I get to fit in my car and what could I get that will hold a charge in winter and have enough clearance to get over snow banks.”
Her scooter can move up to 15 miles per hour and has a range of about 12 miles between charges, Amaral said. She has been approached at other stores, such as the Harvard Coop bookstore and Target, she said, but they let her continue shopping when they saw she used it instead of a wheelchair.
The security officer told Amaral scooters cannot be ridden in the mall. She responded that she used it in place of a wheelchair, and showed him the handicapped symbols she placed on the scooter’s basket. The security guard called in his supervisor, who asked Amaral for a document showing she is disabled.
The sides disagree about what happened next. Amaral said she offered to take the guard to her car to show him her handicap placard and her wheelchair, but he refused to go and asked her for papers to prove she was handicapped.
“I said ‘You can’t ask that. I don’t need to walk around with medical records,”‘ Amaral said. “I said ‘I can take you to my car and can show you my handicap placard.’ He said ‘I don’t care. I can have you arrested.”‘
Kearney said the guard did not refuse and would have let her go on her way but Amaral began yelling and causing a scene.
“She became very loud, and was attracting attention,” Kearney said. “We would have said yes (she can use the scooter), and just let it be.”
The guard, according to Amaral, also told her no electric-powered vehicles could be used in the mall. Kearney denied that, saying that a wide variety of electric vehicles are used in the mall. Only gas-powered vehicles are banned, Kearney said.
Amaral asked for the security guard’s name. When he began writing down the information, Kearney said she got on the scooter and headed toward the FYE store.
“He tried to talk to her, but she didn’t want anything to do with him,” Kearney said. “She started yelling about her placard.”
Amaral denies yelling or even raising her voice, and said she would have trouble yelling because she was fighting a cold.
“Did I raise my voice? Enough to be heard without coughing,” Amaral said. “I was definitely not yelling.”
According to Amaral, the guard left the area and she went shopping in FYE and was in line to pay for some items when the guard told her to put the items back and said he would call the police.
“I’m waiting in line and he comes in said ‘There you are. I told you, you can’t shop here,”‘ Amaral said. “I said I was waiting to purchase my items, and he said, ‘No you’re not,’ and he called police. “
Police were called, Kearney said, because Amaral continued to make a scene.
“We never asked her to leave the shopping center,” Kearney said. “Her disruptive and belligerent behavior was the only reason they were called.”
The police asked Amaral for some identification, and she refused unless they were going to charge her. Natick Police could not be reached yesterday for comment.
Amaral eventually showed police her ID and left. She said she plans to file a complaint with the Massachusetts Office on Disability, and would like the mall to give security guards training on the rights of the disabled and sensitivity toward people with disabilities.
“I’m sure the security officers were stressed, it’s Christmas time. But they didn’t just overreact, they went too far,” Amaral said. “If he had stopped, and said ‘OK, I don’t recognize that as a wheelchair, but OK I’ll go to your car and see the placard,’ it would have ended that. He did not do that.
“Instead he called police and wanted me arrested.”
The mall has a policy welcoming all people with disabilities and has wheel chairs available for those who need them, Kearney said. She said the mall may change its policy to handle similar situations in the future.
“What we will probably do now is ask the person to fill out a form of release to ride this type of vehicle in the mall,” Kearney said. “We are concerned about other people’s safety – kids, mothers with baby carriages, elderly, and the disabled. We have to protect everyone.”
==================================================
JOIN THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE OFFICERS
Join us at www.myspace.com/privateofficernews
Come be part of our social network! http://www.privateofficer.com
Three arrested in shoplifting attempt www.privateofficer.com
Three arrested in shoplifting attempt http://www.privateofficer.com
Two sisters and a friend were arrested Wednesday after they went on a back-to-school shoplifting spree at the Natick Collection, police said.
Elena Shields, 17, her sister, Sarah L. Shields, 21, and Amanda E. Winkler, 18, were arrested at 5:44 p.m. after they stole more than $1,400 worth of clothing from three different stores, said police spokesman Lt. Brian Grassey.
Lord & Taylor security agents said they saw the three women go into the changing room with several items, and emerge with less. Security saw the girls go outside and put the merchandise in a car,” Grassey said.
The women were stopped, and when officers searched for what they took from Lord & Taylor’s, they also found several items stolen from J. Crew and Nordstrom, two other stores in the mall, police said.
Items stolen included several shirts, skirts, dresses and sweaters, Grassey said.
The Shields sisters, of 39 Tanglewood Road, Sterling, and Winkler, of 9 Gates Terrace, were charged with two counts of larceny of property worth more than $250, receiving stolen property worth more than $250 and conspiracy to commit a crime.
All three are scheduled to be arraigned in Natick District Court at a later date.
Get news alerts, officer down, weather emergency news in your mailbox! Sign up;
adminassist@privateofficer.comJoin us at www.myspace.com/privateofficernews
Come be part of our social network! http://www.privateofficer.com
