LEOMINSTER — On Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025, at approximately 3:02 p.m., Officer Brandon Carlson of the Leominster Police Department was dispatched to the Target at 86 Orchard Hill Park Drive following a report of three men shoplifting.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narratives of Officer Brandon Carlson and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
“Dispatch advised they were using a knife to cut open boxes,” Officer Carlson said. “Upon arrival, I met with Jazlyn [last name redacted] in the loss prevention office.”
Jazlyn told Officer Carlson that one male stole a cell phone and placed it in his backpack, another male stole a cell phone and put it in his pocket, and one male used a cutting device to steal the phones.
“Jazlyn stated the males all left and walked into Dick’s Sporting Goods prior to police arrival,” Officer Carlson said.
Officer Carlson said police searched Dick’s but were unable to locate anyone matching the description provided by Jazlyn and also checked Kohl’s, where no one was located.
“Jazlyn will be sending over her report and video camera footage once she is able,” Officer Carlson added.
On Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, Officer Carlson said he was able to retrieve the security camera footage from Target and positively identify one of the male suspects as Dylan Richard.
According to police, Dylan Richard, 22, is homeless in Leominster, MA.
Officer Carlson said he has responded to multiple incidents involving Richard, with the last one taking place on Aug. 29, 2025.
While reviewing the video, Officer Carlson said Richard walks up to the shelf where the cell phone was locked.
“Dylan appears to touch the lock. Dylan attempts to keep trying to remove the lock from the shelf peg but is unable to,” Officer Carlson said.
According to Officer Carlson, in the surveillance footage, Richard is then joined by another male who then attempts to remove the lock, but is also unsuccessful.
“Dylan and the two unknown males then huddle around, and Dylan pulls a silver pair of scissors from his waistline and hands it over to one of the males,” Officer Carlson said. “That male then walks back over to the shelf and uses the scissors to break the peg lock and take the phone box off the peg. The male then walks back to Dylan and the other male with the phone box in his hand. The male then walks behind a shelf out of camera view (an empty phone box was later found on the shelf).”
Officer Carlson said Richard then walked back to the shelf and waved his arm to signal the other males to come over to him.
“Dylan then backs away from the shelf and regroups with the other two,” Officer Carlson said. “Dylan and the male with the scissors walk back to the shelf and break the peg lock. Dylan then walks away with a cell phone box in his hand. Dylan walks to the phone accessories aisle with one of the unknown male parties. Dylan then hides behind the male and rips open the top of the phone box and removes the phone from the box. Dylan then unzips the backpack that the unknown male party is wearing. Dylan then puts the phone in the backpack and zips the bag back up.”
Officer Carlson said that, at this point in the footage, Richard and the other two “unknown male parties” then walk out of Target, passing all points of sale.
“I attempted to reach Dylan on a recorded department line,” Officer Carlson said. “When Dylan answered, he said hello then stopped talking. I called the number again and the phone was disconnected.”
Officer Carlson requested a warrant for Dylan Richard for the following charges:
- Shoplifting by Concealing Merchandise
- Vandalize Property
“If the two unknown males can be positively identified they will also be charged,” Officer Carlson added.
Richard was arraigned in Leominster District Court on Nov. 19, 2025. Following his arraignment, he was released on personal recognizance under the condition that he stay away from the Target on Orchard Hill Park Drive.
Richard’s next court date was a pretrial hearing scheduled for Dec. 19, 2025.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the arrest in this story took place in August, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to obtain the court documents. FOIAs are time-consuming.
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