Officer makes arrest, pays for woman’s items
Aids alleged shoplifter, ‘ person in need’
FAIRFIELD — A call from a department store to take a shoplifter into custody is not uncommon, but a responding police officer paying for the stolen items is.
That’s what happened when Sgt. Hector Irizarry showed up a few weeks ago at Kohl’s on Tunxis Hill Road.
“I saw a lady in need who couldn’t afford to purchase clothing for her young daughter,” Irizarry said recently. “Although the complainant signed a written statement requesting an arrest, I felt compelled to help a person in need, and to show her that we cared about her young daughter and her financial situation.”
Irizarry was the supervisor on the call, and according to Officer Ryan Mignone, Dannella Scarlett, 27, of Bridgeport, had been stopped by store secu- rity after she was allegedly seen concealing merchandise and trying to leave the store without paying.
Scarlett had two small children with her, an infant and a 6- year- old girl. Police said she told them she was having some hard times and was stealing the clothing for her daughters. Oth- er than a previous larceny arrest, police said, Scarlett had no criminal history.
The merchandise she was trying to steal was $ 156 worth of girls’ and juniors’ items and $ 44 worth of adult products, police said.
Scarlett was charged with sixth- degree larceny, and released on a promise to appear.
Irizarry said amid all the current negative light on law enforcement, he wanted this “small token” of empathy to show Fairfield officers care about the citizens in their community.
“On that call, Hector cared twice,” Chief Gary MacNamara said. “He cared about Kohl’s by holding a person accountable for a theft of property. He then cared enough about a mom and her daughters to have a brighter day, get new clothes and smile. It doesn’t get better than that.”