SHOPLIFTING CHARGE AGAINST 32-YEAR-OLD SINGLE MOTHER DISMISSED AT CLERK’S HEARING

Brockton Police were dispatched to Walmart for a report of shoplifting. Police observed surveillance video footage of a suspect (believed to be the defendant) stealing numerous items and leaving the store. Loss Prevention Officers confronted the suspect, as she was leaving the store but the suspect fled in her vehicle. Loss Prevention took down the license plate of the vehicle. The vehicle came back to a Brockton resident. Police questioned and showed the vehicle’s owner a photo of the suspect from the surveillance video. The vehicle’s owner identified the suspect as the Defendant. Loss Prevention Officers reported that the suspect has stolen items in the past.

Result: At the Clerk Magistrate’s Hearing, Attorney Gerald J. Noonan convinced the Clerk-Magistrate to dismiss the criminal complaint. Defendant paid restitution for the stolen items. Defendant is a 32-ear-old single mother with no criminal record. She works full time at an Addiction Treatment Center and attends college at night with hopes of getting a better job in the medical field.