Broome County District Attorney Stephen Cornwell and local law enforcement officials say petit larceny is anything but small and it has getting more serious.

Kathy Whyte/ WNBF News
Kathy Whyte/ WNBF News
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The District Attorney’s office reports the highest number of retail theft arrests happen in November.  Last year, Broome County recorded 1,202 petit larceny arrests and 152 of those were in the month of November.

Cornwell says a big enforcement effort is underway as part of Retail Theft Crackdown Month. Investigators with the D.A.’s office, who are sworn police officers with the power of arrest, will assist local police agencies in the effort.

The District Attorney’s enhanced trespass policy is being enforced. That means if someone is ticketed at a store for trespassing and they go back there, the charge goes to criminal trespass.  If the suspect attempts to steal again, the charge goes to felony burglary.

NYS Police provided surveillance photo
NYS Police provided surveillance photo
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Retail thefts, of course, costs the stores money but “five-finger discounts” also impact everyone with the burden of police resources being directed away from larger crimes to try to solve petit larceny cases.

Meanwhile, Binghamton Police are asking for help in finding suspects in a couple retail larceny cases recently.

Police say at around 7:15 p.m. October 4th, a thin woman is seen on video in the Weis Market on Robinson Street and is wanted as a person of interest in a larceny investigation at a that store.

The woman is white and wearing a grey sweatshirt with the orange letters: UNC on the front.  She has brown hair piled on top of her head in a bun.

Reference case number 2018-42432.

A video from Boscov’s Department store on September 15th shows a white man wearing a white Adidas ball cap with a scruffy beard going through racks of clothing.  He is also wanted as a person of interest in a larceny investigation.

The man is of medium build and is wearing a white t-shirt and has closely cropped hair.

Reference case number 2018-39598.

Anyone with information about either person, are seen in videos on the Binghamton Police Department facebook page, is asked to call Binghamton Police Detectives at (607) 772-7080.

 

 

 

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