Fitchburg man who posed as Walmart employee arrested for $948 theft attempt at Gardner Walmart

GARDNER — On Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, at approximately 7:39 p.m., Officer Dennis Siaw of the Gardner Police Department was dispatched to the Walmart Supercenter on Timpany Boulevard following a report that a man was imitating a Walmart employee and actively shoplifting.

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

“The reporting party was Kyle [last name redacted], a loss prevention officer with Walmart,” Officer Siaw said. “Upon arrival, I observed [Kyle] standing in the fire lane in front of the Walmart building pointing into the parking lot. I quickly pulled the cruiser alongside [Kyle].”

Officer Siaw said Kyle continued to point into the parking lot and explain that the shoplifter was still dressed as a Walmart employee and pushing a shopping cart full of stolen merchandise.

Officer Siaw said he looked in the direction of Kyle’s pointing and observed a man — later identified as William De Jesus Rodriguez — in tan pants and a blue Walmart smock pushing a shopping cart full of merchandise.

According to police, William Guillerm De Jesus Rodriguez, 36, is a resident of Fitchburg, MA.

“Walmart employees typically wear blue smocks with a name badge that identifies them to customers as Walmart employees,” Officer Siaw explained.

Officer Siaw said he pulled his cruiser alongside Rodriguez, parked, and exited the vehicle to speak with and detain him.

Officer Siaw said that as he exited his cruiser, Rodriguez saw him, removed his Walmart smock and threw it aside before running toward the exit of the parking lot.

Officer Siaw pursued Rodriguez on foot while repeatedly ordering him to stop, and notified dispatch that he was engaged in a foot pursuit.

“Mr. Rodriguez exited the Walmart parking lot, ran across Timpany Boulevard, jumped over the guard rail, and entered the woods,” Officer Siaw said. “I continued to pursue Mr. Rodriguez into the woods, where he became fatigued and laid face down on the ground.”

Officer Siaw gained control of Rodriguez’s right arm and handcuffed him.

Once Rodriguez was handcuffed, Officer Siaw updated dispatch with his location. Officer Siaw said he then attempted to bring Rodriguez to his feet, but he allegedly refused to walk, going limp.

“He stated that he needed water,” Officer Siaw said, adding that he informed Rodriguez that he didn’t have water on him, but he could get some water at the station.

“Mr. Rodriguez continued to refuse to walk, keeping his body limp, stating several more times that he needed water,” Officer Siaw said. “Shortly after, Officer [Bryant] Powlowski arrived on scene and entered the woods to assist.”

Officer Siaw and Officer Powlowski then carried Rodriguez out of the woods.

“As we were carrying him, I requested dispatch to send EMS, we then lifted Mr. De Jesus over the guard rail and placed him on the sand/grass by the Walmart traffic light while we awaited EMS,” Officer Siaw said.

Officer Siaw said he and Officer Powlowski then searched Rodriguez and discovered a glass pipe, commonly used for smoking crack cocaine.

“We then assisted Mr. Rodriguez into a seated position on the ground with his back leaning against Officer Powlowski’s knee,” Officer Siaw said. “Mr. Rodriguez continued to go limp, slumping over to the side several times while continuing to state that he needed water. Shortly thereafter, we transitioned Mr. Rodriguez to lean against my knee where he continued to slump over and state that he needed water.”

Officer Siaw said that, a short time later, EMS arrived on scene and assisted Rodriguez to a stretcher.

“While on the stretcher, I transitioned the handcuffs from behind Mr. Rodriguez’s back, handcuffing his right arm to the stretcher for transport, and double locked the handcuff on his right wrist,” Officer Siaw said.

Officer Siaw rode in the ambulance with Rodriguez to the hospital.

Officer Siaw said that while he was in the ambulance, he conducted a more thorough search of Rodriguez. During the search, Officer Siaw said Rodriguez kept his left side stiff and refused to move, as if trying to conceal something. Officer Siaw said he then found a white, rock-like substance in Rodriguez’s back left pocket.

“The item was seized, later weighed to be at 0.8 grams, and secured in evidence temporary locker 008,” Officer Siaw said. “Through my training and experience, it should be noted that the white rock like substance is consistent with crack cocaine.”

Officer Siaw then went back to the Walmart parking lot with Officer Powlowski where they met with two members of Walmart’s loss prevention team and informed them that they would need to go back to their office to discuss the details of the merchandise that was taken.

“One of the loss prevention officers informed us that the suspect we had apprehended was a known shoplifting suspect who had previously shoplifted from Walmart and was already in their system,” Officer Siaw said. “They also informed us that they believed Mr. Rodriguez had been in Walmart with a second male party but had not been able to locate the second subject in the store. We asked for a description of the second male party and were given a description.”

While they were inside the loss prevention office, Kyle showed the officers the shopping cart filled with merchandise recovered from Rodriguez as well as the blue Walmart smock and name tag that he had been wearing.

Kyle told Officer Siaw that Rodriguez had previously been trespassed from all Walmart locations following a shoplifting incident at a Walmart in Manchester, New Hampshire, with the trespass in effect through June 1, 2026.

Kyle then issued an indefinite trespass notice to Rodriguez.

“Shortly after, Officer Powlowski exited the Loss Prevention Office into the main vestibule of Walmart and observed a party matching the description of the second shoplifting suspect (later identified as Johnny Echevarria),” Officer Siaw said. “Officer Powloski and I approached Mr. Echevarria and took him into custody.”

According to police, Johnny Echevarria, 35, is a resident of Fitchburg, MA.

“Prior to transport, I conducted a pat frisk for weapons of Mr. Echevarria and discovered a retail security device on the sweatshirt he was wearing,” Officer Siaw said, adding that Echevarria was then secured in the prisoner compartment of a cruiser to be transported back to the Gardner Police Department for booking.

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

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