Bags Gave Shoplifters a 'Boost': Police

All it took was bags with aluminum foil to get away with more than $13,000 in stolen goods from CVS stores on the shoreline in Connecticut. But now three suspects are in custody.

“It’s one of, in my 20 plus years, it was one of the largest shoplifting arrests on site that I’ve seen,”  Sgt. Gary DePalma of the East Haven Police Department said.

Ernesto Serrano, 27, Natasha Dantzler, 31, and Velvet Jefferson, 25, all of Brooklyn, N.Y. are accused of stealing toiletries, over-the-counter medicine, gift cards, and even an entire display rack of razors from a store on Short Beach Road in Branford. The were arrested on Wednesday evening. 

Branford police put out an alert to surrounding police departments and East Haven officers were able to pull two of the suspects over.

They not only found all the goods, they also uncovered so-called "booster bags," which are lined with aluminum foil to help get past store security systems, police said.

On Thursday, Branford Police Chief John DeCarlo commended the East Haven officers on a job well done.

“It’s special. It builds on that relationship that started when I was a rookie or beyond and has just built ever since,” DePalma said about receiving the honor.

DeCarlo says criminals know no boundaries, so it’s important that the two departments work together to crack down on crime. 

“The two departments become bigger than the sum of their actual parts,” he said.

Police are investigating to see if these three suspects are responsible for other shoplifting thefts in the area.

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