PD: Shoplifter took $350 in goods, left feces at Middletown store

Cassandra Day - The Middletown Press Middletown police Cassandra Day - The Middletown Press Middletown police Photo: Journal Register Co. Photo: Journal Register Co. Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close PD: Shoplifter took $350 in goods, left feces at Middletown store 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

MIDDLETOWN >> A Massachusetts woman is facing charges she stole $350 worth of items from Rite Aid Pharmacy and left feces behind in a display case at the store, according to Middletown police.

On May 31 at 8 a.m., police were called to Rite Aid on Main Street on the report of a woman who was removing items from packages and hiding them on her, the report indicates.

When the officer found Ashley N. Timmons, 28, of Overlook Road, West Roxbury, Mass., she was allegedly kneeling in an aisle with three unpackaged USB chargers, indicated she needed to charge her phone and denied having any other items in her handbag.

A search revealed she had two opened packages in her possession and police say Timmons told them she intended to ask a manager for half-off because of their state.

Officers then found a hypodermic needle commonly used for heroin in her purse, although she denied being a heroin user, according to the report.

After the woman was handcuffed, the store manager allegedly asked the officer to look at something she had found in a small cardboard display where only Timmons had been.

There, the report says, was “what appeared to be human feces. In another display case, there were numerous tissues wadded up that appeared to be covered with feces.”

At 7 a.m., the manager said, she had opened the store and witnessed Timmons outside waiting, police say.

Once the woman entered the store, the clerk heard someone opening up packages in one of the aisles, the arraignment indicates, then waited for more than an hour until Timmons left the store, according to store policy.

Timmons reportedly had $122 in cash in her possession andh $343 worth of items in her shopping cart.

The officer who interviewed the suspect said Simmons testified she had been shopping and “sometimes selects too many items” and would have returned them at the register if she didn’t have enough money, adding she didn’t remember taking so many things.

Timmons denied “defecating in the store,” the report details, admitted she’s on methadone daily and “occasionally” uses heroin; and that she was in town to attend a friend’s wedding while staying at the Inn of Middletown.

A records check revealed she has an arrest in Massachusetts for possession with intent to sell narcotics.

She was charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief, sixth-degree larceny, breach of peace and use of drug paraphernalia, held on a $15,000 bond and given a June 10 court date.