BANGOR, Maine — A man and a woman with an infant were shopping at Sears at the Bangor Mall last week when store security noticed the man concealing items, Bangor police Sgt. Paul Edwards said Thursday.
“She showed him a female shirt and he concealed it,” the sergeant said.
Store security stopped Adam Mitchell, 22, of Brewer and Megan Caroll, unknown age and residence, at 3:40 p.m. July 3 and found a concealed $12 shirt and $35 watch, Edwards said.
“Loss prevention [personnel] further explained that Adam had stolen clothing the previous day and they chased him and he wasn’t caught,” the sergeant said.
Officers Taylor Bagley and Jason Stuart searched Mitchell’s backpack and also found a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses and “a large amount of brand new clothing with price tags still on them,” that they determined were stolen from Macy’s after watching video surveillance tapes from that store, Edwards said.
Mitchell was charged with two counts of felony theft as well as violating his bail conditions and taken to Penobscot County Jail. Caroll was charged with misdemeanor theft and allowed to leave with her infant. (Nok-Noi Ricker, BDN)
DHS should be alerted…the child remanded to state custody. parents should be sent to jail for child neglect.
While it sounds like that would be a good idea, statistics show that removing children from their biological parents, even if the parents have done some really horrible things, is worse. Unless, of course, the parents are not repentant and don’t change their ways. I personally don’t think stealing clothing should be a felony, given that the father of the kid needs to help pay for his child. If he’s in jail, he will not be able to support his family (consider most guys just leave the mom, but despite his bad actions here, he was still trying to take care of his family). It would be better to offer the couple job training, some classes on care of children, etc. and try to help them get back on track. Most people won’t revert to crime if they have options but unfortunately, most people who are released from jail end up in the same poor circumstances, with little choices to get them into a better life.
How is stealing a watch, woman’s shirt and Ray Ban sunglasses providing for the infant? I think you will find the public provides for this infant already and his being in jail won’t make much of a difference.
I have only one thing to say about ‘statistics show’: There are lies, damn lies, and then there are statistics.
I know many foster care providers who would wholeheartedly disagree with you. I would be interested to know if the father is even employed in the first place.
no employment, sketchy freeloaders like the rest of the dregs wondering the streets. why can’t people just be good? seems to be getting sketchier every day.
It’s hard to “just be good” as you suggest. My husband works 50 hrs a week and I stay home with our one year old because if I worked it wouldn’t even cover daycare costs, and we JUST make ends meet. It really makes me bitter that we’re working hard every day to make a good life for our little family and just barely getting by, but when I go to the grocery store I see the “dregs” as you put it, loading up their carts with food becuase they don’t work so they get a free ride from the state! There are days when (out of anger and frustration) I want to throw my hands up and say “WHY CAN’T WE BE REWARDED FOR DOING NOTHING?!?!” So what insentive do these people have to pull themselves up and be good citizens? So they can work hard to just barely get by? It seems to me that it’s just too easy for them to sit back and do nothing.
P.S. I don’t belive that ALL people on welfare are like that. Some are very hard working people who are trying….but unfortunatly they are overshadowed by the ones who are abusing the system.
i’m fighting disconnect bills and eviction notices, living day to day like everybody else and working my butt off also, but i have little sympathy for the people who do nothing, receive hand outs and rip people off on top of it all, with their child to say the least. i’m barely keeping my family fed, but i’m not going to go out and start ripping somebody else off.
Good point.
I wish they would really sink some teeth into the system abusers. It makes me ugly that they are so clearly screwing the system and are allowed to get away with it.
I worked the night shift for many years because of daycare costs. I was lucky enough to be able to find a job above minimum wage. I can’t even imagine how some people can do it. Good luck. I hope things get better for you.
I wish they would go after abusers too. One of the problems is what is abuse? The system in Maine is what it is so that it is VERY easy to get benefits. The system also has to change. Look at Mainecare. Maine pays for more people than nearly any other state would but if Augusta wants to reduce that to cover fewer people…..oh the humanity. How can we do that to those poor people? I mean, they are out looking for jobs all day long, right? Yeah, I am sure all of the people walking around Ohio St all day and night are exhausted from the extensive job searches they are doing.
That is the lib mentality that is on its way to destroying this state. The libs’ attitude is “oh, the amount of abuse is very low and it would cost more to fight it than to just keep paying.”…and we know that is their mantra…”just keep paying.” Well, as a taxpayer, I am sick of paying for those who get to sit home all day (and I strongly believe that is the vast majority on public assistance in Maine…NOT the exception). I believe the “working poor” (who I have no problem helping, temporarily until they can get ahead) unfortunately make up a far smaller percentage than the libs do.
In this Bush Depression, you have to teach the kids when they are young, as how to survive.
Everything about this comment is laughable. Are you also living off the system and complaining everyday while not employed?
It’s sad. If the parents had been stealing baby clothes, diaper wipes or something for their infant child, then you might understand that times are tough and maybe the charges could be dropped with community service or something, but obviously these parents are only concerned with themselves.
A little family shopping spree..
actually i did not know adam had stollen anything, he asked to hold this shirt while i was still shopping and he came to me 5 mins llater saying lets leave to catch the bus i asked where the shirt was and he told me we could get it another time, so i did not know. im getting charged with the fact that i supposibly knew and for not telling that is theft also. i had money on me to pay for these items and offered to pay then. i was deeply upset hat he had done this with our child present, and what wasnt said is that what adam mostly had gotten was clothes for our child, i guess a watch he stole a previous day when i wasnt present. and sunglasses. so much for knowing the whole story. smh
“i was deeply upset hat he had done this with our child present”
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So if he had done it without your child present, that would have been ok? If you truly were a victim here and did not know about any stealing, you should, at the very least think about what kind of man you want in your life.