Accused CVS shoplifter ordered to pay restitution

Dave Rogers, The Daily News of Newburyport, Mass.
·2 min read

Dec. 3—NEWBURYPORT — A Newburyport District Court judge on Wednesday ordered a New Hampshire man to pay CVS Pharmacy a to-be-determined amount of restitution after the man admitted he could be found guilty of stealing thousands of dollars worth of cosmetics from the city's two CVS locations.

Brian Caldwell, 50, of Windham was also ordered to stay out of all CVS pharmacies and stay out of trouble with the law. If he abides by those conditions the charges will be dismissed after 18 months.

He was arraigned in September in the same courthouse on two counts of larceny over $1,200. Caldwell is due back in court Feb. 7 for a hearing to determine how much restitution he needs to pay.

Police say he walked into the Storey Avenue and Pond Street CVS Pharmacy branches on June 24 and filled two bags with compacts, skin care items and other cosmetics worth about $3,500.

The charges were filed after local police learned he was arrested in Northampton on June 26 for allegedly stealing batteries there. When they arrested him, Northampton police said they found "tubs of batteries and disguises," according to Newburyport police Inspector Dani Sinclair's report.

On July 2, Sinclair saw photos of the CVS shoplifting suspect on the website MaCrimeNet and noticed they bore a "strong resemblance" to the man caught on camera stealing batteries from Big Y supermarkets in Northampton and other places between May 8 and June 21.

Sinclair then watched security camera footage of the first CVS Pharmacy theft.

On June 24 at 11:04 a.m., Caldwell is seen going into the Storey Avenue store with a bag in his hand. He is then seen walking into the cosmetics aisle but no longer carrying the bag.

Instead, he stashed the bag on a different shelf in an adjacent aisle. He then selects several different cosmetics and puts them in a pile next to the bag. After walking into the other aisle, he shoves the items into the bag and then walks into the sunscreen and lotion aisle. There, he throws more items into the bag.

Sinclair estimated that Caldwell stole $1,959 worth of merchandise in six minutes.

Thirty-six minutes after leaving the Storey Avenue pharmacy, Caldwell walked into the Pond Avenue branch carrying an empty bag.

"Immediately goes into the beauty section and leaves the store with a full bag, again without paying," Sinclair wrote in her report.

Caldwell allegedly stole $1,540 worth of merchandise from that store, Sinclair added.

Dave Rogers is a reporter with the Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: drogers@newburyportnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @drogers41008.