The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department.
Arrests
Aug. 1, 6 p.m.: A man was seen taking items from Best Buy. He left the store without paying and got into a vehicle and left the parking lot. Police pulled the vehicle over. The driver said he was an Uber driver who picked up a passenger at Best Buy. The passenger admitted to taking several items which were worth $632. Police also found that the man had six active arrest warrants. Yegor Delykyy, 31 of Brighton, was arrested for shoplifting, and the warrants: four from Waltham District Court for shoplifting, one from Waltham District Court for larceny under $1,200, and one from Malden District Court for shoplifting.
Aug. 2, 2:49 p.m.: A man came to the Watertown Police Station to pick up some property. Police discovered that the man had two active warrants. Anthony Moore, 57 of Boston, was arrested on the warrants out of Brookline District Court, one for shoplifting, and one for unarmed robbery.
Aug. 5, 4:30 p.m. Officers patrolling on Common Street ran a routine query on the plates of a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Police discovered the owner had a license suspended for an OUI. The man was pulled over, and he admitted that his license was suspended. Sean Lagotic, 29, of Saugus, was arrested for driving with a suspended license for OUI.
Aug. 6, 2:30 p.m.: A man was seen taking multiple items from Target and left without paying. Police located the suspect near the Residence Inn by Marriott. He had $324 in stolen items. Officers also discovered the man had a warrant for shoplifting out of Quincy District Court. Target security said that the man also shoplifted on July 13. Sean Campbell, 27, of Rockland, was arrested on two counts of shoplifting and the warrant.
Aug. 6, 6 p.m.: Officers were at Target for another matter when security told them that they spotted a man and woman working together to shoplift. The man opened an anti-theft device and put two items into a backpack that he had taken off the store shelf. They also saw a woman approach the man several times and put items in his shopping cart. The woman also put clothing into her purse. The man walked past the registers without paying. He was stopped and he had six clothing items valued at $295. Police discovered he had three warrants for his arrest. Meanwhile, officers stopped the woman, who left through the rear entrance. She had $32 worth of merchandise. Police determined she had two warrants for her arrest. Jeffrey Bliss, 41, of Milford, was arrested for shoplifting, unlawful removal of a theft prevention device and the warrants: one from Boston District Court for trespassing, malicious destruction of property, and larceny; a second from Boston District Court for breaking and entering a vehicle for a felony; and the third from New Bedford District Court for breaking and entering a building in the nighttime for a felony, and vandalism. Christina Garcia, 36 of Framingham, was arrested for shoplifting and the two warrants from Boston District Court — one for trespassing and the second for possession of a Class A drug. During booking police discovered she had a white substance which is believed to be fentanyl. She was also charged with possession of a Class A drug.
Incidents
July 31, 9 a.m.: Employees at Tabrizi Bakery in Watertown Square arrived for work and discovered bags on the floor, and saw that the cash register was open and the cash was missing from the drawer. A bag of money was also missing. The back door had been pried open. Police are investigating.
July 31, 5 p.m.: Two women walked into Carter’s at the Watertown Mall and filled bags with assorted clothing. They walked out the front door without paying. The pair took $240 in merchandise. The suspects are described as older black females wearing face masks
Aug. 1, 1:17 p.m.: A man parked his scooter in the parking lot of a business on Pleasant Street. It was taken between 4 a.m. and 10 a.m. The Vespa LX 50 is valued between $500 and $1,000.
Aug. 1, 3 p.m.: A resident reported an ID fraud after learning that someone had filed a false unemployment claim in her name. The resident is not sure how much the claim was for.
Aug. 1, 2:39 p.m.: At about 2 p.m. Police received multiple reports of three men fighting near the entrance of Home Depot. A disagreement turned into a physical altercation between two men. A third man appeared to try to break up the fight. It does not appear that the men knew each other, and two of the parties left before police arrived.
Aug. 3, 8 p.m.: A man went into Ulta Beauty and took a bottle of Gentleman cologne and put it in his pants before leaving without paying. The bottle is valued at $124. The man was also seen taking a bottle of Light Blue cologne worth $70 on July 24. The suspect is described as a white or Hispanic man with long hair in a ponytail.
Aug 4, 2 p.m.: A bicycle was stolen from a garage in a building on Coolidge Avenue. The Giant FastRoad E+ EX electric mountain bike was valued at nearly $4,000. It was secured with two locks, both were missing along with the bike.
Aug. 5, 12 p.m.: Best Buy reported that a man came in and took an Altice wireless speaker from a shelf and put it in his bag. He walked out of the store without paying for the speaker, which is valued at $50. The suspect is described as a white male who was wearing a baseball hat, a white shirt, grey pants, and had a tote bag.
Things are getting worse in Watertown. Fortunately, no flash mobs thefts yet.
Thanks goodness we have a great Police Department which keeps the bad elements in check.
These police reports always lead to some comment about the state of crime in Watertown being so much worse. No evidence to support that. The Police do a great job, and have for some time. Let’s deal in facts.
Here we go again. Predictable.
Ask the front line workers and management at Best Buy, CVS, Home Depot, Target, etc., whether shoplifting has increased in Watertown in the last years. Such will be the facts with which you will have to deal.
And I said worse, not ‘so much worse’. Histrionics are not my thing.
I don’t know what the facts are nor am I taking a side here… but I can say that what you’re describing are anecdotes, not facts. Asking an employee what they think about shoplifting is highly susceptible to bias, and employees do not collect rigorous data.
It is not what they think. It is what they witness and subsequently report to the Police,which, incidentally, do not respond to “anecdotes”.
Read the Watertown News Police Logs circa 2019, and forward, and you will see a steady increase in shoplifting occurrences.
Not clear what bias has to do with anything here. A thief is a thief.
Precisely!
Paul, they are even locking up the toothpaste at Target! That isn’t normal.
https://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/15muu2r/the_toothpaste_is_now_locked_up_at_the_watertown/?rdt=60951
Good point. Now, why would they have to do that now if everything is going just fine? Did they do that, say, five years ago?
Looking at police logs from 2019 onward doesn’t necessarily tell you that shoplifting has increased. It might, for example, be telling you that shoplifting cases remained steady (or even decreased!) but law enforcement has put more resources into catching people. Also looking at the police logs means you’re looking at absolute numbers and not the rate of theft. It could be that the absolute number of cases are increasing but many more people are shopping now than in 2019 so the RATE is actually decreasing.
A corporation’s choice to lock up toothpaste doesn’t tell you very much. Corporations don’t necessarily make completely rational decisions all the time. I find it interesting that they lock up the toothpaste, yet it’s trivially easy to steal stuff in many poorly staffed self-checkout lines and I’m guessing there’s very poor data about the rate of theft over time in these self-checkout lines. Corporations might be irrationally reacting to cases of a thief loading a bag up with toothpaste and running out the door but overlooking the many more times that a person weighs a toothpaste tube and some razors as bananas and gets 90% off the price.
This seems like a classic case of confirmation bias to me. You’re starting with the conclusion that shoplifting is increasing then you’re working backwards to find evidence to support your claim instead of critically analyzing the all available evidence.
To be clear: I’m not saying you’re wrong. It’s possible you are right, but your arguments are not telling a compelling story.
Reminder, comments must be signed with your full name.
Talk to any Watertown police officer that you know and they’ll confirm this. They are doing the best they can but things really have increased.
Indeed, Tom.
Unfortunately, we will never convince those who see bias everywhere and will deny that the bad guys are more active now than before – as they seek to protect them for a variety of reasons; virtue-signaling among them. Not to mention this would go against initiatives, such as the ones launched in Boston in 2019 by the now disgraced Rachael Rollins. Nothing to see here.
There are some with whom you cannot reason, thus we stop. Critical thinking is a Rara Avis in some forums.
How about the Police report on Good Deeds Done rather than arresting thieves. Locking up Toothpaste doesn’t get a merit award for theft, how about Mail Box theft, and someone’s check getting washed, cleaning out their account? Yeah, theft is on the rise, and I for one am glad the Police Dept. reports these incidents and locations, so we know to be more vigilant. If someone disagrees, just take your fact finding notepad and go to the stores that don’t do anything about theft and ask them about the bottom line, which I’m sure is just tacked on to the price that honest customers pay, to make up for their loss costing us more, also encouraging more theft from thieves!
Some stores report the loss due to theft to their insurance company. They get paid, and they get their premium increased – which in turn they pass along to the customer. One way or the other, we, the consumers get to pay for the crime.