MONROE, CT — A male and female shoplifting duo stole a bag full of vitamin supplements and beauty products from Stop & Shop, 470 Monroe Turnpike, Thursday afternoon.
Police said a skinny Hispanic man wearing a gray sweatshirt, jeans, a blue hat and glasses, filled a shopping cart with food, medications and beauty products.
Then he left it by a door, exited the store and walked south along Route 111.
A short time later, a woman, described as White and in her 50s or 60s, left the store carrying a reusable bag filled with vitamin supplements and beauty products without paying for the items, police said.
She entered a silver or white, four-door BMW with tinted windows on the north side parking lot and was later seen picking the man up on Route 111, near Elm Street, according to the report.
Police said the couple was in the store for about 20 minutes.
The incident is under investigation.
Spilled gravel
A tri axle dump truck hauling gravel from 64 Cambridge Drive, where earthwork is being done, lost some of its load Wednesday morning, while being driven on Route 59, toward Easton.
The owner of the John Burtsche Landscaping & Excavating truck received an infraction for failure to secure a load.
Two drivers told officers the gravel damaged their vehicles. Police said the Connecticut Department of Transportation was notified to clean the gravel off the road.
Construction site hit again
Cutlers Farm Crossing, a senior housing development on Purdy Hill Road, near Cutlers Farm Road, reported a theft for the second time in the past week.
Last Friday, the developer reported the theft of $10,000 to $20,000 worth of construction equipment that was stored there.
Then on Wednesday, he told police around $8,000 worth of pump jack supports, aluminum planks, vinyl siding and various other tools were stolen from the construction site.
Police said there was no video surveillance of the theft, which is under investigation.
Fog cited in two crashes
Police responded to two one-vehicle-crashes, from accidents the drivers attributed to the fog on Wednesday morning.
At approximately 5:43 a.m., officers were called to Route 111 and Bagburn Road after a 2016 Kia Optima went off the road and struck a utility pole.
The driver, a 55-year-old Monroe woman, and her passenger, a 59-year-old man, were evaluated by Monroe Emergency Medical Service personnel at the scene. Both declined hospital trips for further treatment, police said.
The driver told police she was heading south on Route 111 and did not see where the road curved to the left in the heavy fog. She swerved off the roadway, to her right, and hit the pole, police said.
She was given a written warning for traveling too fast for conditions. The front end of her Kia sustained heavy damage, according to police.
Eversource was called to assess the damage at the base of the utility pole.
Then at approximately 9:18 a.m., officers were called to the 200-block of Hattertown Road after a 2014 Toyota Camry Hybrid swerved off the south side of the roadway and traveled 15 feet into a water-filled ditch.
Police said the car came to rest partially immersed in standing water, with its front bumper against the support cable of a utility pole.
The driver, a 55-year-old Monroe man, was not injured, police said. He told officers he was heading south on Hattertown Road, couldn’t see the curb in the heavy fog, and ended up in the ditch.
He was given a verbal warning for traveling too fast for conditions and his vehicle was towed.
Crash takes out 4 mailboxes
A row of four mailboxes at Wildwood Lane and Purdy Hill Road were damaged in what was originally reported as a vandalism Tuesday morning. But a police investigation found evidence of a motor vehicle crash.
Officers found tire tracks before the mailbox stand and debris from a vehicle on the ground. The mailboxes were scattered in the yard of one of the homeowners, according to police.
There was no video of the incident, which police believe occurred sometime overnight into the early morning hours. Police also said the debris could not be traced to a specific type of vehicle.
The incident is under investigation.
Credit card fraud
A 53-year-old Monroe woman told police $4,842 worth of fraudulent charges were made to her American Express card, according to a complaint filed Tuesday.
Police believe the fraud was committed online over the past few months. American Express was contacted and is handling the disputed charges. Police said the victim did not suffer any financial loss.
She was advised to monitor her credit.
Unemployment fraud
Three residents reported fraudulent filings for unemployment benefits in their names over the past week.
In all three cases the victims were advised to report the incidents to the Connecticut Department of Labor, the Social Security Administration and their banking institutions.
They were also told to monitor their credit through the three major credit bureaus.
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Monroe cops are the laughing stock of all departments in Connectocut.
All the other cops laugh at them according to my uncle who’s also a cop