Peabody police on the alert for big-time shoplifters

PEABODY – The arrests of three youths April 9 for a massive shoplifting incident highlights a bigger issue that has police on alert.”When we have a group of shoplifters who we believe are working in conjunction with each other, the losses tend to be more significant,” Peabody police spokesman Lt. Dennis Bonaiuto said.The mall has been a hot spot for big-time shoplifters in recent months, with larcenies sometimes totaling over $10,000 attracting attention from news media.”These are situations where they take a whole rack of clothes,” Bonaiuto said.Bonaiuto says it’s not uncommon for multiple people to work together and steal clothes from several malls in a short period of time.”The offenders look at the type of merchandise they’re able to move as well as an attractive physical layout” of the stores, Bonaiuto said.Michael Realejo, 20, of Lawrence, Tabitha Burling, 21, of Salem, N.H. and a 15-year-old Lawrence boy were arrested outside the North Shore Mall after police allegedly caught them walking around the parking lot for over an hour, scanning the area and making sure police weren’t around.The suspects were stopped outside the mall earlier after police in Burlington gave a description of the suspects to Peabody police for allegedly stealing clothes from Abercrombie and Fitch and Macy’s stores at the Burlington Mall.At the time, one of the suspects was wearing stolen jeans and was issued a court summons.Police continued to watch the suspects and pulled their car over when they tried to drive away over an hour later. Police allegedly found more than $3,000 worth of stolen clothing from the Burlington Mall.Bonaiuto says police and store security are more alert now than ever before to these types of thieves, as opposed to “opportunists” or people, such as drug addicts, looking for one or two easy items to steal.Bonaiuto praised the collaboration between police and store security, particularly at the North Shore Mall.”These arrests happened after one store called another store,” he said. “They’re becoming more cognizant to the problem.”