Crime & Safety

Man Allegedly Shoplifts Ground Beef, Flees in Notorious Minivan

Incidents and arrests in Arlington from Wednesday to Thursday, Sept. 5-6.

Man Allegedly Shoplifts Ground Beef, Flees in Notorious Minivan

A man allegedly walked into at about 4 p.m. Wednesday, hid 10 packages of frozen ground beef in a hooded sweatshirt and then walked out of the store without paying.

The man then entered a well-known vehicle to police, a blue Honda minivan, which has had its plates run 18 times since June by police in Somerville, Cambridge, Malden, Boston, Weymouth and Barnstable, according to police.

Find out what's happening in Arlingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

A Trader Joe’s employee followed the man out of the store and stood in front of the minivan to try and stop it from leaving. However, once the vehicle started moving, the employee got out of the way. There were about three to four other people in the minivan, the employee told police.

The employee said this same minivan has been involved in past larcenies at the store.

Find out what's happening in Arlingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The man was described as a white male, about 6 feet tall, with short black hair, wearing a gray T-shirt and black shorts.

Get Arlington police news in your inbox every morning by signing up for our daily newsletter. 

Notable Incidents from Wednesday to Thursday, Sept. 5-6

Thursday, Sept. 6

7:09 p.m., Lamson Way and Massachusetts Avenue, Unregistered motor vehicle

5:40 p.m., Gardner Street, Arrest, assault and battery

5:31 p.m., Forest Street, Motor vehicle crash, leaving the scene of property damage

12:11 p.m., Fremont Court, Operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license

Wednesday, Sept. 5

11:55 p.m., Maple Street, Annoying telephone calls

7:39 p.m., Medford Street, Annoying telephone calls

5:56 p.m., Bowdoin Street, Neighbor problem

4:16 p.m., , Massachusetts Avenue, Larceny under $250 (see above)

2:21 p.m., Academy Street, Breaking and entering into a motor vehicle

12:30 p.m., Dothan Street, Annoying telephone calls

12:23 p.m., , Florence Avenue, Larceny from a building

11:17 a.m., Mill Brook Drive, Larceny under $250

7:45 a.m., Egerton Road, Breaking and entering into a motor vehicle

7:37 a.m., Academy Street, Breaking and entering into a motor vehicle

5:45 a.m., Mount Auburn Street, Motor vehicle crash without injury


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.

More from Arlington