On the dates listed below, I (Officer Devin Schneider) was in full uniform assigned to the Assembly Row unit in marked cruiser 660. The following report is a summary of events that I witnessed, as they pertain to incident #16045301:
On Saturday, July 23rd, 2016 at approximately 4:15 pm, I received a call on my department issued cell phone from Saks off Fifth Avenue Loss Prevention Officer: XXXXX. XXXXX informed me that a white male had just stolen a Michael Kors purse from Saks, (located at 300 Canal Street) by concealing it into a Kenneth Cole shopping bag. The male suspect was with a blonde white female, who was also carrying a Kenneth Cole shopping bag. I would note that there is a Kenneth Cole outlet store located at 340 Canal Street.
XXXXX sent me a digital photograph of the suspects captured from Saks’ video surveillance system. The male suspect is wearing a black t-shirt with the white lettering of: “STATEN ISLAND NYC,” and khaki shorts. The female suspect is wearing a white tank tops, a backpack, and black shorts. I searched the area of Assembly Row for the suspects , along with XXXXX and YYYYY, however, I was unable to locate them.
I met with store employees from the Kenneth Cole outlet store and reviewed their store surveillance system. At approximately 2:18 pm the two suspects are seen inside Kenneth Cole. It appears that the female suspect distracts one of the store employees by asking to look at some watches. The male suspect walks behind the cash register, and quickly selects shopping bags from under the cash register counter. The male suspect stands behind a clothing display, and stuffs the bags down his pants. The male suspect then joins the female suspect and the two leave together.
On Sunday, July 24th, 2016 at approximately 2:30 pm I received a call on my department issued cell phone from Saks off Fifth Avenue Loss Prevention Officer: YYYYY. YYYYY informed me that he had just observed the male suspect referenced above in his store again. I stayed on the line with YYYYY as I called for additional units through dispatch. As I responded to Saks, YYYYY informed me that he observed the suspect select a purse and cut off the electronic theft detection device with a pair of pliers.
I arrived at the Canal Street side entrance of Saks, while YYYYY informed me that the suspect had concealed the purse in a shopping bag and was exiting the store. I witnessed the suspect exit the store and start walking towards me. I would note: I recognized the suspect from the digital photograph sent to me the day prior, and the suspect was wearing the same black shirt with the words, “STATEN ISLAND NEW YORK.” I stopped the suspect and placed him into handcuffs in a manner consistent with my training. Officer Paul Anderson and Officer Walter Collette arrived on scene to provide back-up.
The suspect warned me that he had a hypodermic needle in his pocket. The needle was removed from his pocket and disposed of in a sharps container. A search incident to arrest of the suspect revealed the stolen Rebecca Minkoff handbag inside a TJ Maxx plastic shopping bag, as well as a metal pair of cutting pliers that were found in his pocket.
The suspect had no identification and provided me with false identifying information twice, by lying about his date of birth and the spelling of his last name. The suspect then provided me with his social security number, which came back to a Joseph Macdonald. I advised Mr. Macdonald that he was under arrest. Then Mr. Macdonald was transported back to the Somerville Police station in prisoner transport unit-200, by Officer Brian Pavao. Mr. Macdonald was booked in the usual manner by the Commanding Officer: Lt. William Rymill.
YYYYY provided me with the defeated theft detection device. I transported the pliers along with the theft detection device back to the station, where I entered them into evidence in the usual manner. YYYYY provided me with receipt print-outs of the stolen merchandise and their value:
-July 23rd incident: Michael Kors purse $159.99
-July 24th incident: Rebecca Minkoff purse $139.99
I will be charging Joseph Macdonald with the following violations of M.A. General Laws:
-Ch. 266 / §. 30A: Shoplifting $100+ by Concealing Merchandise, 2 Counts
-Ch. 266 / § 30B(e): Unlawful Deactivation of Theft Detection Device
Respectfully submitted,
Officer Devin Schneider
Badge #295