Crime & Safety

Police Blotter: Shoplifting Suspect Loses His Shoes While Trying to Run from Lawrence Police Officers

More shopliftings, frauds, an alleged drunk driver and a basement flooded with sewage are among the other noteworthy incidents recently handled by Lawrence Township police officers.

Shoplifting

A man who allegedly stole $306 worth of clothing from the Victoria’s Secret store at Quaker Bridge Mall was arrested after he literally “ran out of his shoes” while trying to flee police,  according to Lt. Charles Edgar, a Lawrence Township police spokesman.

Dashen Hasson Wilson, 18, of the 900 block of Edgewood Avenue in Trenton, allegedly exited the women’s clothing store in the mall in the 3300 block of Brunswick Pike (Route 1) about 3:45 p.m. on Friday, March 11, with assorted clothing – including sweatpants, sweatshirts and a bra – for which he did not pay, Edgar said.

Find out what's happening in Lawrencevillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Store personnel notified mall security officers and Lawrence Township police officers, who pursued the man as he ran from the mall. At some point during the chase, Edgar said, Wilson’s sneakers fell off his feet.

The shoeless suspect was apprehended after a few minutes along Brunswick Pike at the Kelly Viaduct by Sgt. Chris Longo and Officer Sean Kerins, Edgar said, noting that Wilson was charged with shoplifting.

Find out what's happening in Lawrencevillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Shoplifting

Arron Ciesielski allegedly got away with the crime once but was not so lucky when he tried the same shoplifting trick a second time, Edgar said.

Security officials at the Sears store in Quaker Bridge Mall told police that on Feb. 25 they witnessed Ciesielski take a pair of new shoes out of their box and put them on his feet, Edgar said. He said Ciesielski then allegedly put the old shoes he had been wearing in the box, placed the box back on the shelf, and exited the store wearing the new shoes. He escaped before store security officers could catch up to him.

About 2:15 p.m. on Friday, March 11, Ciesielski returned to the Sears store and allegedly did the same thing as before, switching another pair of old shoes for a new pair. This time, however, he was stopped after he walked out of the store wearing the stolen shoes, Edgar said, noting that Ciesielski was charged with two counts of shoplifting. He said the two pairs of stolen shoes were worth a total of $130.

DUI

A Ewing Township woman was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving on Sunday, March 13, according to Edgar.

Edgar said Officer Daniel Gladney was on patrol when, at about 5:45 p.m., he spotted a vehicle traveling northbound on Route 1 (Brunswick Pike) in an “erratic manner.” He stopped the vehicle at Route 1 and Quakerbridge Road.

Upon speaking to the driver, Gladney allegedly detected a “strong odor of alcoholic beverage on her breath,” Edgar said, adding that she was arrested after failing a field sobriety test.

The woman, identified as Catherine Clayton, 47, of the 1600 block of 9th Street in Ewing, was charged with driving under the influence, reckless driving, improper passing, having an obstructed view of her windshield and refusing to submit to a breathalyzer test, Edgar said.

Criminal Mischief

A 21-year-old Rider College student from Manalapan called police at 2:40 p.m. on Friday, March 11, to report that she had just discovered that someone had carved a “derogatory word” into the rear of her 2007 Honda Civic, Edgar said. He said the woman believed the crime took place sometime between 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 10, and Friday afternoon. Damage was estimated at $500.

Fraud

Township police launched a fraud investigation about 12:20 p.m. Friday, March 11, after being notified that a check that had been written to the township had bounced, Edgar said. He said a landscaping business located in Hillsborough had issued the $900 check to the township public works department as payment for composite purchased from the township’s ecological center on Princeton Pike. Edgar said the matter remains under investigation by the township’s detective bureau.

Fraud

Police were contacted at 3:10 p.m. Friday, March 11, by a resident of Charles Way who reported that she had just learned that $575 worth of fraudulent purchases had been charged to her credit card account, Edgar said. He said the woman was still in possession of her card, but the account was somehow used – possibly by someone with a “cloned” card – to make numerous purchases at Menlo Park Mall in Edison between Feb. 24 and March 10. He said the crime remains under investigation by Officer Suzanne Girard and detectives.

Shoplifting

Lorraine Tarver, 21, of Kingsbury Square in Trenton was arrested about 5 p.m. on Friday, March 11, after she allegedly concealed $160 worth of jewelry in her jacket pocket and walked out of the Sears department store at Quaker Bridge Mall, Edgar said. He said she was stopped and detained by store security officers until police arrived and charged her with shoplifting.

Property Damage

An estimated $2,000 worth of damage was caused after sewage backed up into the basement of a home on Johnson Road a little before noon on Saturday, March 12, Edgar said. He said police, volunteer firefighters from Slackwood Fire Co., and representatives of Ewing Lawrence Sewerage Authority responded. Because of the presence of waste material, firefighters were unable to pump the water from the basement into the street as they would with a normal flooding condition, Edgar said, noting that residents had to call in a special clean-up contractor to take care of the mess. The cause of the backup was still under investigation, he said.

Shoplifting

A 16-year-old girl from the Kendall Park section of South Brunswick was arrested about 8:45 p.m. on Saturday, March 12, for allegedly stealing $36 worth of clothing from the Sears department store at Quaker Bridge Mall, Edgar said. He said the girl allegedly selected an item from the store’s lingerie section and, while inside a fitting room, concealed the article underneath her sweatshirt. She exited the store without paying but was followed and detained by store security officers who, he said, became suspicious after she exited the fitting room empty-handed. She was charged with shoplifting.

Anyone with information about any of the above crimes is asked to call Lawrence Township police at (609) 896-1111.

A copy of Lawrence Township's police dispatch log for Friday, March 11, through Sunday, March 13, 2011, can be downloaded from the PDF box, which can be accessed by clicking on the photo above. This log lists all significant calls for service and incidents for which officers filed a written report. Routine administrative assignments are omitted. Some data has been redacted to protect the identity of crime victims.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.