By Patrick Mcardle
THE RUTLAND HERALD
A resident of the Rodeway Inn is facing up 30 years in jail after police said he stole items from a supermarket in an allegedly stolen car and then removed the car from the towing lot, twice, without permission during incidents in April and May.
Timothy E. Shaw, 42, of Rutland, was scheduled to be arraigned in Rutland criminal court on June 20 on a misdemeanor charge of retail theft, two felony charges of grand larceny and two felony charges of unlawful mischief resulting in more than $1,000 in damage but failed to appear, according to court records.
After a warrant was issued for $2,500, Shaw was arrested on Monday morning and then appeared in court for arraignment. He pleaded not guilty to all five charges.
Shaw was released without bail but ordered not to have contact with the owner of the towing business.
The charges against Shaw are based on an affidavit written by Officer Timothy Rice, of the Rutland City Police Department, who said he was dispatched to the Price Chopper in the Rutland Shopping Plaza around 11:20 p.m. April 30.
Rice said Michael Pease, the night manager of the grocery store, was alerted to a possible shoplifter by an alarm that goes off when a shopping cart leaves the store before passing through a checkout lane.
In the parking lot, according to the affidavit, Pease and other customers confronted a man, later identified as Shaw, and a woman, who were placing merchandise from a shopping cart into a Kia Forte.
One of those customers showed Rice a video that allegedly showed the incident. Rice said he recognized Shaw as the man putting items from the cart into the Forte.
Other customers told Rice the woman was Kayshia Buck, 28, and Rice said a photo from the Department of Motor Vehicles indicated the woman in the video was Buck.
Rice said he found Buck on Woodstock Avenue on May 1. He said she admitted to being the woman in the video and he cited her to appear in court on June 20.
The affidavit said Shaw was cited the same day although he denied any involvement in the theft.
Rice said in the affidavit that Shaw and Buck told him the allegedly stolen items were already gone. He said he believed this indicated the items were sold so Shaw and Buck could buy drugs and added he knows both allegedly abuse drugs.
Rice said Mark Jankowski, 55, contacted police on April 30 to report the Forte as stolen. The Forte was found and recovered on May 11.
Jankowski told police that Shaw had the key to the Forte. He said he was reluctant to have the car towed and returned to him as he believed Shaw would take it again. The car was towed by Carrara’s Services on Porter Place in Rutland and kept there, the affidavit said.
On May 16, Eric Carrara, owner of the business, contacted police to say the Forte was gone. He believed the person who took it hit a tow truck and a school bus parked at the lot while removing the Forte.
Rice said police from Rutland Town located the Forte on May 23. Shaw was allegedly in the car at the time. Carrara’s Services was called again to tow the car.
Eric Carrara called police again on May 23 to say the Forte had been removed again. Both times, it had been taken from the lot without the fees being paid.
When the vehicle was removed on May 23, the driver struck a 2020 Hyundai Sonata, which had been blocking the Forte, and caused “extensive damage.”
“Carrara believed (Shaw) again used the keys to take the vehicle and when he saw it was blocked in, he used the Kia to ram the Sonata to move it out of the way. Officer Rice saw the tire marks and ruts in the ground that were consistent with Carrara’s suspicions. The paint transfer on the Sonata was also the same color as the Kia,” Rice wrote in the affidavit.
On May 24, Trooper Zach Shaughnessy, of the Vermont State Police, located the Forte on South Main Street in Rutland Town. Shaw was driving the car, the affidavit said.
Shaughnessy also allegedly found 20 bags of what police suspected was heroin in the car but because of a break in the chain of custody when Rice took over the investigation from Shaughnessy, Shaw wasn’t charged for the drug possession, the affidavit said.
Rice said he spoke to Shaw on May 27 to serve him with a notice of “no-trespass” against Carrara Services.
“Officer Rice then asked (Shaw) why he kept taking the Kia from the tow lot and he responded by stating it was his vehicle and stated Carrara shouldn’t have ‘blocked it in.’ Officer Rice asked (Shaw) if he had any paperwork or documentation that he purchased the vehicle and he stated he had none. He then again reiterated Carrara shouldn’t have blocked the Kia in,” Rice wrote in the affidavit.
Rice said a Price Chopper staff member reported the items taken from the store were worth more than $200 based on what could be seen on the video but added that the actual loss might be closer to $500. The employee said it was difficult to see what had been taken, even after seeing the video, because of the number of items in the shopping cart.
Carrara said the damage to his business was about $1,210 and the damage to the Sonata was at least $1,000.
If convicted, Shaw would face up to 10 years in jail on the grand larceny charges and up to five years in jail on the unlawful mischief charges. The retail theft charge is punishable by up to six months in jail, if Shaw is convicted.
patrick.mcardle @rutlandherald.com
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