LEOMINSTER — On Sunday, December 8, 2024, around 4:30 p.m., Officers Johangel Lorenzo and Carlos Cintron of the Leominster Police Department were collecting toys for children from underprivileged families at a “Fill a Cruiser” charity event at the Target located at 86 Orchard Hill Park Drive, when they were informed by Target’s asset protection team that a shoplifting incident was taking place inside the store.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narratives of Officer Lorenzo, Officer Cintron, and Sgt. Fallon, and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
“While returning items to the asset protection office, an employee and asset protection specialist, Jazlyn [last name redacted], informed me that there was a shoplifting in progress,” Officer Lorenzo said. “I observed the loss prevention team follow and observe the two suspects: a male and a female. I then alerted Officer Cintron of the situation, and he joined me in the office.”
From the loss prevention office, the officers watched the suspects through Target’s surveillance system as they donned coats without paying for them and neglected to scan several items at the self-checkout counter.
“Jazlyn then approached both suspects at the exit door, but they ignored her request to go to the loss prevention office and attempted to leave the store,” Officer Lorenzo said. “Officer Cintron and I followed them outside and instructed them to return to the loss prevention office to address the shoplifting incident. Officer Cintron then detained the male suspect. At that moment, the female suspect attempted to flee when I ordered her to stop. I was able to catch up with her and detain her. As we walked back to Target’s loss prevention office, I observed the male suspect resisting Officer Cintron.”
Get a banner ad for just $20/month or a video ad for $25/month—both options are flexible and can be canceled anytime. Since our launch in 2022, News Link Live has reached over 1.1 million viewers throughout Massachusetts and beyond. Contact us at newslinklivealerts@gmail.com or click the button below to get started.
Officer Cintron said he followed the male suspect after witnessing the suspects disregard the loss prevention associate’s request to stop and leave the store.
“I followed the male suspect (later identified as Dana Devoid) identified myself and asked him to stop, he ignored my request,” Officer Cintron said. Adding, “I grabbed the right shoulder section of his shirt, and he stopped. I grabbed his right hand and walked him back to the store in the escort position. Once inside the store, I explained that I would be releasing his arm and that I would be guiding him by the arm. As soon as I released the arm and grabbed the back of his right arm, he turned around and ran towards the exit. I ran after him, grabbed the back of his sweatshirt. He slowed down, I wrapped my right arm around his upper body and took him to the ground. Once on the ground, her tried to push up from the ground with me holding him. I asked him to stop resisting and to relax. He eventually stopped. I placed him in handcuffs, allowed him to catch his breath and helped him stand up. I asked for another unit for assistance.”
Once both suspects were handcuffed, (Officer Lorenzo had already handcuffed the female suspect to assist Officer Cintron with the male suspect when he attempted to flee), the officers took both suspects to the loss prevention office, where Jazlyn and her team recovered all of the stolen items, which were later found to have a total value of $443.73.
“The suspects were Dana and Katherine Devoid, a married couple from Townsend,” Officer Lorenzo said. The identity of the male suspect was determined by an identification card the male suspect provided to Officer Lorenzo.
“They admitted to taking their jackets and a few additional items hidden in their pockets,” Officer Lorenzo added. “Both suspects were trespassed from Target for one year. Target then returned the items that they did pay for, back to her card.”
According to Officer Lorenzo, both suspects were arrested for shoplifting by asportation, and the male suspect, received an additional charge of resisting arrest.
During booking, it was discovered that the male suspect had provided a false ID to Officer Lorenzo.
“On 12/08/2024, Officer Lorenzo arrested Eric Krauss for shoplifting at Target,” Sergeant Matthew Fallon said. “While on scene, Eric Krauss identified himself to Officer Lorenzo as ‘Dana Devoid’ (dob [redacted]) to mislead Officer Lorenzo’s investigation. This false ID information led us to filing Eric’s charges against Dana Devoid.”
According to police, Eric J. Krauss, 41, is a resident of 550 Old Dana Road, Barre, MA. (The Leominster police log identifies the female suspect as Kathryn May Devoid, listing her address as the same as Krauss’. According to police records, Kathryn is 37 years old).
Sgt. Fallon reported that during the booking process, Krauss once again deliberately gave the false name “Dana Devoid,” along with his date of birth and social security number, to Lieutenant Thomas Wade, the officer in charge, in an effort to conceal his true identity.
“This false identification that Eric provided to us, led us to file a complaint application for the wrong person,” Sgt. Fallon said. Adding, “It is important to note that Eric Krauss (dob 4/22/1983) had an active arrest warrant which may be one of the reasons for why he provided this false information.”
Sgt. Fallon said that on Dec. 9, 2024, a dispatcher provided him with Krauss’ RMV information.
“Once I looked at Eric’s RMV photo, it was immediately apparent to me that we arrested Eric yesterday and not Dana,” Sgt. Fallon said. “It was also apparent to me that Eric provided us with false information, which led us to file charges against the wrong person (Dana). I responded to the court house and instructed Officer Herbette to arrest Eric. I advised Eric he was under arrest for the active warrant and the criminal charges from the day before. He was brought back to the station for booking.”
In addition to the charges from the day before for shoplifting and resisting arrest, Krauss was also charged with:
- Witness/Juror/Police/Court Official, Intimidate
- False ID Information, Arrestee Furnish to Law Enforcement
Krauss was arraigned in Leominster District Court on Dec. 9, 2024. Following his arraignment, Krauss was released on personal recognizance. His next court appearance was a pretrial conference scheduled for Jan. 6, 2025.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from December 2024, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.
To learn more about News Link Live’s unique business model, please read the following:
An online business model that could replace local newspapers
The Medium is the Message by Marshall McCLuhan
The Ego and the ID by Sigmund Freud
“WOKE” is a sarcastic slur
used by people with right-wing extremist convictions to dismiss, demean, and disrespect others who have different views.
It stirs anger, fear, loathing, conflict, and violence instead of mutual respect and understanding.
It should be eliminated along with other racial, religious, and political slurs, and never used in mature, professional, educated communication.
No, no it isn’t. The problem with commenting with emotion instead of facts is you’re mostly, completely wrong. Woke is used by many people and saying “used by people with right wing extremist convictions…” Is the same as if I were to say that racist was only used by radical left, fascists that want to do no good and only only create divide. See the difference between speaking with facts and speaking with emotion? We get no where classifying widely used words as belonging to a class of individuals and trying to write your own connotation by what the worst of a group thinks of it. You’re no better than the people you wrote about when you do that. How about people start talking instead of making up lies like bullet points on a presentation and if you don’t understand the definition of words, ask the question don’t make up your own.