LEOMINSTER — On Tuesday, April 2, 2024, at about 1:20 p.m., Leominster Police Officer Tanner Jakola was dispatched to the Hannaford Supermarket at 118 Lancaster Street following a report of three women concealing merchandise. Officers Garrett Hardy and Jodi Kwan assisted him at the scene.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Jakola and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
“Upon arrival, Officers Hardy and Kwan were speaking with two females identified as Mariana Slatineanu [aged 36] through a Washington State ID and Jajela Chiciu who was carrying a Romanian Passport,” Officer Jakola said.
According to police, Jajela Chiciu, 40, is a resident of 1618 N Monroe Street in Baltimore, Maryland, and Mariana Slatineanu, 36, is a resident of 6125 S 239th Apt. D103 in Kent, Washington.
Officer Jakola spoke with an asset protection employee who reported that three women—Slatineanu, Chiciu, and an unidentified female—entered the store and started concealing items from the health and beauty aisle (Aisle 2) in their skirts and a bag.
“I was able to view video footage of all three females in Aisle 2 of the store,” Officer Jakola said. “From 1:18-1:20 p.m., Mariana was concealing health and beauty merchandise in her skirt while the unidentified female was standing next to her and handing items to Mariana to conceal. Jajela was holding a handcart and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Mariana. It was clear Jajela was serving as a lookout.”
In the surveillance footage, the women leave the health and beauty aisle and meet up again in the back left corner of the store.
“The females walk by Aisles 3 and 4 when Jajela gives her handcart to Mariana and goes down Aisle 3,” Officer Jakola said. “Mariana and the unidentified female continue on. Jajela then goes down Aisle 3 and gets a shopping cart. The shopping cart is empty. Mariana and the unidentified female go down Aisle 8. Mariana gives the unidentified female the handcart and waits for Jajela to meet her with the shopping cart. The unidentified female comes back and all three females leave the shopping cart and Aisle 8 at the same time.”
In the footage, Mariana then goes down Aisle 10 by herself and hides behind a display.
“Video shows Mariana reaching for something in her skirt,” Officer Jakola said. “Jajela comes down Aisle 10 with the shopping cart. When Jajela reaches Mariana, Mariana puts a dark bag in the cart. It is believed Mariana had the bag in her skirt and was concealing items in that bag. Officers Hardy and Kwan then stop Mariana and Jajela. The bag Mariana pulled from her skirt was searched by Officers Kwan and Hardy. Over $1,700 worth of merchandise was in the bag.”
From watching the surveillance footage, Officer Jakola concluded that the women were clearly working in concert and had a plan. He noted that they switched handcarts and shopping carts and separated from each other multiple times, making it difficult for loss prevention to monitor all of them.
“Both Mariana and Jajela were wearing black skirts, most likely to better conceal merchandise. Neither party spoke English,” Officer Jakola added. “The merchandise from the bag was run through a register. Fifty-nine items were in the bag. The total amount of merchandise concealed was $1,732.84. The merchandise was returned to the store and left on scene.”
The surveillance video shows the unidentified female buy something at the self-checkout register and leave on foot, walking outbound on Lancaster Street. Police searched the area, but were unable to find the woman.
“Officer Hardy advised he saw video of the three females being dropped off by a silver van in the back parking lot,” Officer Jakola said. “The cameras were unable to pick up a license plate of the van.”
Police were advised by dispatch that Mariana had an extraditable warrant from the Montgomery County Police Department in Maryland. The warrant was for the following charges: Theft $15k to Under $125K and Conspiracy Theft.
“Montgomery County was made aware of this incident and advised they would extradite Mariana,” Officer Jakola said. “Mariana and Jajela’s skirts and the bag that concealed the merchandise were seized and will be used as evidence. Jajela was also wearing a ‘smock,’ with a zipper under her black skirt.” The smock was also seized by police and placed into an evidence locker at the Leominster Police Station.
Officer Jakola reported that he received an email from Freeport Maine’s police department about a Romanian Organized Retail Crime (ORC) crew which had stolen $3,637 worth of merchandise from a CVS in their jurisdiction the day before, on April 1, 2024.
“Pictures are attached to the email that show three females, two of which are wearing skirts,” Officer Jakola said. “One of the females wearing a skirt strongly resembles Jajela. The picture of the female not wearing the skirt strongly resembles the unidentified female. The other female wearing a skirt has her face hidden in the picture.”
Mariana Slatineanu was charged with the following:
- Larceny over $1200
- Conspiracy
- Fugitive from justice on court warrant
Jajela Chiciu was charged with the following:
- Larceny over $1200
- Conspiracy
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from April, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.
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