Leominster man accused of shoplifting at Target arrested after exposing himself to public

LEOMINSTER — On Saturday, February 8, 2025, Officer Christian Edge of the Leominster Police Department responded to the Target located at 86 Orchard Hill Park Drive following a report that a man had shoplifted from the business.

(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Edge and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)

“Dispatch advised the male party in question was wearing all black, had a backpack on, and was also carrying several plastic bags (one of which was from Market Basket),” Officer Edge said. Adding, “Officer [Brandon] Carlson assisted.”

“Prior to arriving with my body worn camera [BWC] activated, Officer Carlson advised he observed a male party matching the description given to us by dispatch, on the sidewalk (on Harvard Street) just before the entrance to the U-Haul store,” Officer Edge said.

Officer Edge said he then activated his body worn camera and approached the suspect, who had been detained by Officer Carlson.

“I approached the male and explained to him that an employee of Target provided a statement that gave me probable cause to believe he was the party who was observed concealing unpaid merchandise from the store,” Officer Edge said.

At this time, dispatch informed Officer Edge that loss prevention associates from Target were on the way to their location for a showup.

According to Nolo.com (a legal encyclopedia) a “showup” is a form of eyewitness identification, akin to a lineup. However, at a showup, a witness or victim is normally confronted with only one person rather than a group of people. Showups may occur in the field, whereas lineups usually take place at a police station.

Officer Edge then asked Officer Zachary Kinahan – who had responded as backup – to read the suspect his Miranda warnings and continue his investigation.

“Several attempts were made to have the male identify himself,” Officer Edge said. “He refused to provide said information. I then asked the male where the items that he concealed were. He then advised he did not have any unpaid merchandise that belonged to Target.”

At this time, two loss prevention associates, Brian [last name redacted] and Jazlyn [last name redacted] arrived from Target in a vehicle.

“I walked over to them and advised them to stay in the car for their safety,” Officer Edge said. “Both parties saw the male in the flesh, rolled down the window and verbally confirmed it was the same male they saw concealing items (nine for a total of $198.33) into an unpaid Target bag.”

Officer Edge added, “As I went back to the male, he removed a folding knife from his pocket and handed it to me. He then unzipped his jacket and verbally stated he did not have anything. He then stated he also did not have anything in his pants. Though no one asked the male to remove his pants, the male proceeded to pull down the outermost pair of his pants to his knees. Because he was facing me, I observed another pair of compression pants and what appeared to be a pair of compression shorts beneath the compression pants.”

Officer Edge said the man then removed both his compression pants and shorts.

“Neither I, nor Officer Kinahan or Officer Carlson asked the male to remove his pants,” Officer Edge said. “As the male did this, it was very clear that the male was now half nude (exposing his genitalia) to the open public. The male recklessly disregarded a substantial risk of public exposure to several motorists driving by, and also to [Jazlyn]. [Jazlyn] stated the male’s actions of dropping his lower garments in the cold weather (which was around 27 degrees Fahrenheit), shocked and confused her. The male’s actions also interfered with Officer Kinahan’s investigation for the shoplifting.”

Officer Edge said that once the man pulled up his compression pants and shorts, he placed him under arrest for exposing himself to the public.

“I maintained control of his right arm and wrist while Officer Carlson maintained control of his left arm and wrist,” Officer Edge said. “I then ordered Officer Kinahan to take his handcuffs out and place them upon the male’s wrists. After the handcuffs were on, Officer Kinahan doubled locked each handcuff and checked them for tightness.”

Officer Edge then pat frisked the man for weapons and found nothing.

“I then placed him into the rear of Officer Carlson’s cruiser,” Officer Edge said. “Upon conducting a search incident to arrest for MGL Chapter 272 Section 16 [i.e., Open and gross lewdness and lascivious behavior], I observed several items that appeared in pristine condition with tags on them, and also a Massachusetts ID belonging to a Mr. Jason Jewett [DOB redacted].”

According to police, Jason Jewett, 47, is a resident of 62 Lowell Road, Pepperell, MA.

Officer Edge stated that the items found on Jewett during his search included an All In Motion sports bra for women, Sensodyne toothpaste, and a Biore product.

“Upon showing the ‘All In Motion’ bra, the Sensodyne toothpaste, and Biore product, [Brian] and [Jazlyn] both confirmed that the All in Motion bra was an item that is only sold at Target. In light of the facts and circumstances, the three products listed above were scanned by [Brian] and confirmed to be unpaid merchandise from the Leominster Target location.”

After obtaining a full statement from Brian, Officer Edge learned that, initially, Jewett took an unpaid Target shopping bag and concealed six items inside: a $99.99 backpack (brand unspecified), a $24.00 PSD brand underwear item, a $4.00 NOBRAND clothing item, a $6.00 Oral-B product, a $3.99 BIC product, and a $6.99 Dove body wash.

“Mr. Jewett, after concealing the items into the Target bag, passed all registers/points of sale, and permanently deprived Target of this merchandise,” Officer Edge said. “It was not until [Brian] stopped Mr. Jewett at the vestibule when he gave those six products back but kept the three products listed earlier in this report (All In Motion bra, Sensodyne toothpaste, and Biore).”

Officer Edge informed Officer Kinahan of this information and formally charged Jewett with the following:

• Open & Gross Lewdness
• Shoplifting by Concealing Merchandise

Jewett was arraigned in Leominster District Court on February 10, 2025. Following his arraignment, he was released on his own personal recognizance under the condition that he stay away from the Target at Orchard Hill Park. His next court date was a pretrial hearing scheduled for March 3, 2025.

Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from February, 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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