Fitchburg woman arrested after Leominster shoplifting spree that began at T.J. Maxx, continued to Dollar Tree, and ended at Marshalls

LEOMINSTER — On Wednesday, February 12, 2025, Officer Matthew Chagnon of the Leominster Police Department was dispatched to Marshalls located at 510 North Main Street, following a report of a shoplifting incident in progress.

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

“Officer [Johangel] Lorenzo arrived on scene first and the female suspect had simultaneously exited the store, she saw Officer Lorenzo, dropped the product she had in her hands and thought about fleeing but was unsuccessful, she was detained by Officer Lorenzo at this time,” Officer Chagnon said.

Officer Chagnon exited his cruiser and asked the woman to provide identification. She responded that she did not have any. She identified herself as Jennifer Galante, stating that she was homeless and did not have a phone number.

“Dispatch produced Jennifer Galante’s information back to this officer,” Officer Chagnon said. “Dispatch advised that we had an in-house note that Nichole Galante often uses her sister’s (Jennifer Galante) information. It was later learned that her true identity was in fact Nichole Galante. Nichole eventually admitted her identity, stating she could not do that to her sister.”

According to police records, Nichole M. Galante, 42, is homeless in Fitchburg.

“Nichole Galante had two active warrants for her arrest, and this is why she intentionally willfully and directly mislead this police officer with intent to impede my investigation and avoid being arrested for the two active warrants she had,” Officer Chagnon said.

Officer Chagnon then advised Galante that she was under arrest for misleading a police officer.

Officer Chagnon said the first active warrant for Galante’s arrest was a default warrant out of Fitchburg District Court for two counts of Shoplifting by Asportation, 3^rd Offense. The second warrant for her arrest was a default warrant out of Leominster District Court, for one count of Larceny over $1,200.

“During the inventory search of the purse she had on her person, I located fourteen bags of candy,” Officer Chagnon said. “When asked where she took the candy from, she admitted she had taken it from the Dollar Tree, which is located next to Marshalls. I also observed several miscellaneous items to include a small glass pipe commonly used for smoking crack cocaine, the pipe did have burnt residue in it, this item was destructed back at the station. Also located on the back side of her phone was a Mass DTA [Department of Transitional Assistance] card with her information on it, again she had advised me she had no identification with her information on it earlier which misled my investigation.”

Officer Chagnon also noted that the purse itself appeared to be stolen. The black Mali & Lili brand bag still contained paper stuffing at the bottom and had a plastic tie where a price tag would have been. Inside the purse, along with the stolen candy, he found a pair of diagonal wire cutters.

In addition to the items found in her possession, Officer Chagnon said the reporting party, a loss prevention associate at Marshalls, recovered a laundry basket full of items Galante had dropped off outside the store.

“He also provided video of Ms. Galante walking around the store and placing clothing items in the laundry basket, which was also a product of the store,” Officer Chagnon said. “There was a total of 20 merchandise items including the laundry basket for a total of $451.35, these items were recovered. The value of the items taken from the store was over $250 so I will be charging [Galante with] Larceny under $1,200 for this incident.”

The loss prevention associate stated that the incident initially took place at T.J. Maxx, where he observed similar behavior. As a loss prevention officer for both T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, which are partner businesses, he reported that Galante was seen walking through T.J. Maxx, placing clothing items into a laundry basket before exiting without paying. Although the stolen merchandise was not recovered, the loss prevention associate reviewed the surveillance footage and identified the stolen items. In total, seven items, including the laundry basket, were valued at $143.99.

Officer Chagnon received a flash drive containing the surveillance footage from the loss prevention associate and placed it into evidence upon returning to the Leominster Police Station.

Officer Chagnon then went to the Dollar Tree and spoke with the assistant manager who said that she was aware that a woman had shoplifted earlier but they had not notified the police at that time.

“The candy that was stolen is pretty specific items that you can most likely only find at a store such as the Dollar Tree,” Officer Chagnon said. “[The assistant manager] spoke to her manager via telephone, they wished to pursue charges. A receipt for the items taken was produced and totaled $21.00. They did not wish to have the candy returned; it was destructed back at the station. I will be charging Ms. Galante with Shoplifting by Asportation, Third Offense for this incident.”

Galante was transported back to the Leominster Police Station by Officer Flory and booked without incident.

Galante was charged with:

1. Witness/Juror/Police/Court Official, Intimidate
2. Shoplifting by Asportation, 3^rd Offense (two counts)
3. Larceny under $1,200

Galante was arraigned in Leominster District Court on Feb. 13, 2025. Following her arraignment, she was released on personal recognizance under the condition that she stay away from and not contact the stores she allegedly stole from. Her next court date was a pretrial hearing scheduled for March 13, 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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