The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department.
Nov. 23: Sometime overnight from Nov. 22 to the 23rd someone broke into Arsenal Pizza. The backdoor was forced open and cash was stolen from the register. Police are investigating.
Nov. 23: A resident reported that her identity had been stolen. She received letters from 10 separate banks informing her that credit cards had been opened in her name.
Nov. 23, 12:45 p.m.: A man came into the Nike Store and took clothing and sneakers worth $270.
Shoplifting Sting
On Nov. 25, the Watertown Police conducted a saturation patrol aimed at catching shoplifters at Arsenal Yards and the Watertown Mall. Three people were arrested and two juveniles were summoned to Waltham District Court on a charge of shoplifting.
The first person arrested was seen taking merchandise at Target. She brought the item into the restroom and when she came out she was confronted by security. She resisted when they tried to take her into custody. After being detained, police searched her and found she had what appears to be crack cocaine. Ann McKenzie, 37, of Arlington, was arrested on charges of shoplifting, resisting arrest, and possession of a Class B drug — a subsequent offense.
Loss prevention at Target alerted police that a man walked past the registers without paying for merchandise. He had $150 worth of items. Anthony Rankin, 37, of Waltham, was arrested on a charge of shoplifting.
A woman was seen taking $256 worth of merchandise from Target. Tara Campbell, 54, of Newton, was arrested on a charge of shoplifting.
As I read it, the police could do this every day and never run out of thieves to arrest. Even if all of them went to jail, rather than none, there seems to be a limitless supply of shoplifters to steal stores blind, if not put them out of business, and run up the prices we pay on everything. If we’ve run out of prison space, how about a penal colony? I suggest Nantucket.
Maybe Venezuela could take them. Or we could keep Concord open or use Norfolk for its original intended purpose.
Liberal judges and prosecutors not enforcing the laws are among the many problems brought forth by the One Party Commonwealth apparatchiks. Catch and release is not limited to illegal aliens as Judge Shelley Joseph and her kind surely knows.
I suspect these thieves are, and will continue to be, repeat offenders – as they face no consequences.
On the bright side, the good work by our Police Department may encourage the lawless to go stealing in Boston or Cambridge and leave unwelcoming Watertown alone.