Fitchburg man caught shoplifting sports cards at Leominster Walmart arrested after cop pulls over his camper

LEOMINSTER – On Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, at approximately 2:30 p.m., Leominster Police Officer Marjus Zylyftari was dispatched to the Walmart Supercenter at 11 Jungle Road following a report of a shoplifting incident.

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

Officer Zylyftari said that when he arrived on scene, he spoke with a loss prevention associate who advised him that a man had just left the store with merchandise (i.e., sports cards and hot food) that he didn’t pay for and was in his camper in the parking lot. The loss prevention associate said the man had also shoplifted from the store on two prior occasions.

“[The loss prevention associate] stated that everything was captured via CCTV [closed-circuit television] camera in this store,” Officer Zylyftari said. “While speaking with [the loss prevention associate], he mentioned that said vehicle was still in the parking lot. [He] looked at the surveillance camera, and the vehicle left the parking lot heading towards downtown. [The loss prevention associate] provided me with two printed reports of the suspected male shoplifter totaling about $93 for both incidents in stolen merchandise.”

After gathering all the information, Officer Zylyftari said he left Walmart and headed toward the downtown area.

“I was driving in the block of 170 Lancaster Street when I observed the camper take a left onto Cedar Street from Lancaster Street,” Officer Zylyftari said.

Officer Zylyftari also took a left hand turn onto Cedar Street and positioned himself directly behind the camper.

“The camper immediately turned left onto Middle Street and took an abrupt left into the rear parking lot of Hannaford,” Officer Zylyftari said.

At this time, Officer Zylyftari activated the blue lights atop his cruiser and pulled the camper over.

“The operator was identified as William Fletcher,” Officer Zylyftari said.

According to police, William D. Fletcher, 61, is a resident of Fitchburg, MA.

Officer Zylyftari said Fletcher matched the picture provided by Walmart and was wearing a shirt that was the same color and had the same logo depicted in the photograph.

“I asked William if he was at Walmart he said no,” Officer Zylyftari said.

When Officer Zylyftari showed him the picture and asked him if he was shoplifting, Fletcher replied stating, “I don’t steal.”

“I ran Williams’s information through dispatch. I also had dispatch confirm through the CJIS [Criminal Justice Information Services] database that the plate number given above was registered to a camper,” Officer Zylyftari said. “Dispatch advised that William’s license status was suspended, and that plate belonged to a Ford F-150.”

Officer Zylyftari then requested a tow for the vehicle.

“William told me that he did not know that the camper was not registered because if he did, he would not drive it,” Officer Zylyftari said.

Officer Zylyftari then took Fletcher into custody and transported him to the Leominster Police Department for booking.

Fletcher’s arraignment was scheduled for the morning of Aug. 4, 2026, in Leominster District Court.

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Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident 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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