Winchendon man arrested for stealing $10 from farmstand cash jar while pretending to shop

WINCHENDON — On Monday, May 26, 2025, at approximately 7:15 p.m., Officer Dylan Mei of the Winchendon Police Department received a call from a woman reporting a theft from her farmstand located at 450 Spring Street.  

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

“Upon my arrival I noticed an enclosed shed where Taylor sells her local produce and vegetables,” Officer Mei said. “Continuing down the driveway, Taylor emerged from the woods and showed me a video of a customer who entered the shed.”

Officer Mei said that at approximately 5:15 p.m., a white male wearing black shoes, tan shorts, a dark blue hooded sweatshirt, and carrying a black drawstring bag was seen in the video entering the woman’s farmstand.

“He rode a light blue and silver ‘NEXT’ bike to the stand,” Officer Mei said. “The male walked inside the shed, looked around, said ‘Hello?’ with an open palm and raised hands. The male had nothing in his hands. He then proceeded to stick his hand in a jar filled with cash. His hand was in the jar for several seconds flipping through the money as if to be counting it.”

Taylor told Officer Mei that a $10 bill was taken out of the jar.

“The jar had four $1 dollar bills and one $5 dollar bill (along with one $10 dollar bill before being stolen),” Officer Mei said. “Taylor keeps an assortment of smaller bills in the jar for customers who need to make change when purchasing items from the unmanned stand.”

Officer Mei said that the man seen in the video was later identified as 32-year-old Michael E. Shaw of 662 Spring Street, Room #7 at the Countryside Motel in Winchendon.

“I reviewed the video with Officer [Justin] Smith and we both agreed it was Michael from previous interactions that we had with him,” Officer Mei said. “I attempted to make contact with him at the motel to speak with him. I spoke with [the hotel clerk] who claimed Michael was not there.”

Officer Mei said he took a picture of Shaw’s bike which was on the ground outside his hotel room.

“It was the same bike in the video that Taylor showed me,” Officer Mei said.

Officer Mei said he asked the hotel clerk to have Shaw call the station when he got back. She said she would and left.

“At approximately 8:15 p.m., Michael called me and said he was in Gardner,” Officer Mei said. “I told him I wanted to meet up with him to show the video. Michael changed the topic and told me he knew someone in town selling heroin. I told him to leave a message for the detective and to give me a call when he gets back to the motel. He said he would.”

Officer Mei said that, at approximately 10:40 p.m., Shaw informed him that he was back at the Countryside Motel.

Officer Mei said that he and Officer James Wironen responded to the motel, where Shaw emerged from the rear of the building and Officer Wironen placed him under arrest.

“As Officer Wironen was placing the cuffs on him, we explained to Michael why he was under arrest,” Officer Mei said. Adding, “Michael uttered, ‘I didn’t steal, I put $10 in when I first came in there…I’ll give it back…I would give it back to them. I mean no harm.’”

Shaw was transported to the Winchendon Police Department for booking.

“I read Michael his Miranda rights and he signed a form of acknowledgement,” Officer Mei said. “I asked Michael how much money he thought he took from the jar. He responded ‘It was only a $10 bill, that was it. I could have swore I put a $10 bill in there, looked around, I didn’t see no broccoli, I went over, took it back out and left.’”

Officer Wironen called Bail Commissioner David Weiss and bail was set for personal recognizance.

“During booking Michael had a $10 bill in his wallet, which I seized and placed into evidence,” Officer Mei said. “Michael was placed into cell #3 until he was released at approximately 12:10 a.m.”

Shaw was charged with:

• Larceny from Building

His arraignment was scheduled for May 27, 2025 in Winchendon District Court.

Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story took place earlier in May, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to obtain the court documents. FOIAs are time-consuming.

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