Criminal Charges:
Woman charged in the Bristol County Attleboro District Court for:
- Shoplifting by Concealing Merchandise – M.G.L. c. 266, § 30A
City, State, County and Court:
North Attleboro, Massachusetts, Bristol County
Attleboro District Court
Case Overview:
The police were dispatched to Macy’s Loss Prevention Office for a reported shoplifter who was not a United States Citizen and had been detained for attempting to steal merchandise from the story. Upon arrival, officers spoke with the asset protection employee who indicated they had been monitoring the woman on video surveillance camera who was with her 2-year-old daughter and had been in the store for about an hour. Employee observed the woman select various clothing items and toys and conceal them in the child’s stroller and diaper bag. The woman was also seen on camera cutting open two toy packages with scissors and giving the toys to her daughter. The woman then exited the store, passing all points of sale, without rendering payment and entered the mall where the Macy’s store was located. The value of the stolen, and ultimately recovered items was approximately $600. When questioned by police, the woman admitted her conduct. She was then barred from all Macy’s locations for a term of 3 years, and given a summons to appear for a Clerk-Magistrate’s Hearing in Attleboro District Court for the charge of shoplifting. Fearing adverse immigration consequences from her actions, the woman, an Afghan national living in the United States with ambitions of obtaining citizenship, retained Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer, John L. Calcagni III, and his team to represent her at the hearing.
Case Result: Application for Criminal Complaint Denied.
Following the Clerk’s Magistrate’s preliminary remarks, the recitation of the facts by the police prosecutor, the Clerk-Magistrate’s consideration of several exhibits submitted on her behalf, and oral argument in favor of the woman, Attorney Calcagni and his team successfully convinced the Clerk-Magistrate to deny the application for criminal complaint, preventing this case from appearing on her criminal record and averting any potential immigration consequences if the complaint had been issued.
