TAUNTON — On Tuesday, January 6, 2026, at approximately 7:05 p.m., Officer Michael Flynn of the Taunton Police Department was dispatched to the Hannaford supermarket located at 255 Joseph E. Warner Boulevard following a report of a shoplifting in progress.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Michael Flynn for the incident and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
Officers Cameron Williams and Tyler Nichols also responded to the scene.
“Dispatch relayed to responding units that the loss prevention officer identified as Daniel Sibulkin stated that he recognized the male party from prior shopliftings from the store,” Officer Flynn said.
When officers arrived on scene, they met with Sibulkin in his office and watched live surveillance footage of a man, later identified as Gregory Souza, as he was actively shoplifting inside the store.
According to police, Gregory P. Souza, 58, is a resident of Taunton, MA.
Sibulkin said he recognized Souza from multiple prior shoplifting incidents at the store and told police that Souza appeared to be almost finished selecting items.
“Sibulkin stated that he usually leaves from the produce exit and that he parks around the corner of the store,” Officer Flynn said.
Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux notes that, “There is an inverse relationship between the seriousness of a crime and recidivism. People who shoplift and do other petty crimes usually have a very high rate of recidivism, whereas a murder often only commits one murder. It’s rare when someone murders multiple people. It’s not surprising that local police were able to identify the suspect as a repeat offender.”
As Souza began walking toward the produce exit, Officers Nichols and Williams exited the store and walked toward where Souza was parked around the corner.
“I stayed in the office and watched Souza push his cart close to the produce exit then unload most of his groceries into reusable bags, concealing all the merchandise,” Officer Flynn said. “Souza then walked right out the produce exit with all unpaid merchandise in those reusable bags, not paying for anything.”
Officer Flynn said he radioed the other units that Souza was walking out through the produce exit as he followed him outside.
The officers intercepted Souza outside, where he was placed in handcuffs that were double-locked and checked for tightness, according to Officer Flynn.
“Souza was escorted back inside the store so Sibulkin could serve him with trespass papers trespassing him from all Hannaford’s supermarkets,” Officer Flynn said. “After all this paperwork, Officers Nichols and Williams escorted Souza out of the store and transported him back to the station to be booked in accordance with our department policy.”
Officer Flynn stated that he advised Sibulkin that Souza was being placed under arrest for that night’s incident, in which he attempted to steal $224.53 worth of merchandise, including Cosmic Brownies and English muffins. Officer Flynn also advised Sibulkin that once all information was collected regarding the multiple prior shoplifting incidents involving Souza, the police department should be notified and a further investigation would be conducted into those incidents.
“It should be noted, that after Officer Williams read Souza his Miranda rights, he stated that, yes, he has stolen from this store before,” Officer Flynn said.
Gregory Souza, 58, of Taunton, was arrested and charged with the following:
- Shoplifting by Concealing Merchandise
Souza was arraigned in Taunton District Court on Jan. 7, 2026. During his arraignment, the charge of shoplifting by concealing merchandise was dismissed and he was ordered to serve 10 hours of community service by Feb. 6, 2026.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story took place in January, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to obtain the court documents. FOIAs are time-consuming.
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