On Tuesday morning, February 5, 2019, at approximately 1:32, Newark Police Officer Carter McKennon was on uniform patrol conducting a property check of the Red Roof Inn located at 1119 South College Avenue.
While conducting the property check, McKennon observed a black Dodge Caravan bearing Tennessee registration backing into a parking spot in the parking lot with a person asleep in the front seat. When the subject rolled down the window, officer McKennon immediately detected an odor of marijuana coming from within the vehicle, according to police.
Officer McKennon conducted a search of the vehicle based on the odor of marijuana and found the back-passenger area and cargo area of the vehicle were filled with bags of clothing, according to police. Officials said the clothes had price tags still attached and were in a variety of bags such as shopping bags, trash bags, and tote bags.
Upon closer examination, it was observed that many of the articles of clothing had plastic security alarm tags still attached and several of the tags were wrapped in aluminum foil, which is a common practice used by shoplifters to defeat anti-theft systems, according to police.
Additionally, Officer McKennon found that some of the tote bags were lined with aluminum foil for the same purpose, said police. The inventory discovered that the merchandise totaled approximately 226 items and was estimated to be valued at approximately $16,000.
As a result of the investigation, the two occupants of the vehicle were charged with possession of shoplifter’s tools, receiving stolen property, conspiracy, criminal impersonation and a civil violation for the possession of marijuana.
This story is pulled from an administrative police report. The names of the parties are not listed in that report.
