Farm store thief busted after being caught on camera — twice

Security camera images of the thief on his November 28 visit to the farm store (click image to enlarge).

A brazen thief who was twice caught on camera stealing food from the Codman Community Farms store — once when farmer Pete Lowy was in the room with him — was caught by police and banned from the store for life.

A security camera first recorded the unidentified man gathering various items and leaving without paying on November 28. The farm store does not have checkout staff and operates on an honor system whereby customers scan and pay for their items using a credit or debit card or put cash in an envelope through a slot. Lowy wrote about the first incident in a December 2 email to CCF members asking them to be on the lookout for the thief, and then breathlessly related the whole story in a December 15 e-newsletter to CCF members, along with some subtle plugs for the merchandise (scroll down for the latest):

It’s been a couple of weeks since we shared the news of the theft in the farm store. Many, many folks emailed us offering both support and a bit of concern about the way we handled this latest intrigue at the farm. It is never fun to share these complicated matters with the public, but we find it’s important to provide this information when the situation merits. In this case, it did, and as confident as I was about the intention of the theft at the time, some in the public were less inclined. Many offered their theories which were kinder and based on the supposition that we are all good people and no doubt this was an innocent mistake. Alas… I have most unfortunate news for those who thought this kind fellow was experiencing a mere lapse of judgment or perhaps some other more serious medical issue. In the end, we were right and this whole ordeal is about honesty and trust and well, it’s just another interesting Codman farm-life story.

And if you are reading this, you are also part of this story. Because you are part of our community. We are grateful to you all for your interest and your continued support and kindness.

Oh yes, and it’s still all about a dude stealing because he can — and our journey toward making things right. Read on for the conclusion of this winding tale… Kick back and enjoy. Cancel that morning meeting. Refill that cup of hot joe. I have a story for you…

OK, so here goes. As we all know, the original theft occurred on November 28th at 8:40 p.m. We have the camera footage and massive amounts of video showing that our friend did not pay for the items he took from the store. He walked confidently out of the store without any attempt to pay. We were unable to locate him or track his car and license plate so we turned to you, Joe Public, to assist us with finding him. We received lots of feedback and a tip of sorts that someone had indeed seen him in the store another time — but this person did not know him so, the lead was a dead end.

Until one day — December 6 at 1:01 p.m., to be exact — I, me, mwah (Farmer Pete) was just returning to the farm from a three-hour trip bringing some pigs into freezer camp. I was a bit tired from the long drive and was walking home to refill my coffee and sit down for a few minutes to relax. But as I was walking through the parking lot towards the house, I noticed a car pulling into the parking lot. I did a double-take and thought to myself, “Hey, that car kinda looks familiar — it looks like the car that guy was driving that fateful night.” The car had the same profile, brake lights, wheel rims, and so on. As I maintained my gaze at the car and watched the driver’s door slowly open, out came our gray-haired friend in his same blue puffy jacket!

I nearly dropped my empty coffee cup. My stomach turned in knots. Wait, what!? This could not be — I just happened to get back to the farm and happened to be walking in the same direction as the guy whom I had been searching for, and he happened to be getting out of his car right as I was walking by? No way. The gods of petty larceny were shining brightly on me that day! Without a hint of hesitation, I approached him as he walked towards the store. “Excuse me,” I said. He looked down at me (I’m not very tall). I said, “I believe you were here last week and didn’t pay for your items.” (It never pays to be a total jerk; I like the kinder approach to accusing someone of being a thief.) He said, “Oh, really? No problem, I’m happy to pay for the items now.” I also said, “We can also call the police if you like.” And he replied, “Oh no, no need for that.” I then did the smartest thing of all — I said, “OK, before we head into the store, I want to take a photo of your license plate.” And I did.

OK, people, now is not the time to think “See, I told you, it was an honest mistake, Pete… he did mean to pay, he just forgot. You are such a mean guy for thinking he was dishonest!”

My reply would be, “Don’t be naïve — what else would someone who intentionally stole say? Come on! Do you think he would blurt out, ‘Oh dang, busted! I did steal that stuff, and I was gonna steal again just now, but I guess I won’t because you caught me.’” No, what he said is exactly what I would expect him to say. He acted slightly surprised but with a bit of contrition. I asked him to follow me into the store so he could pay for the items, and he did.

Once in the store, I quickly gathered my thoughts and went into the farm kitchen to grab the piece of paper where I previously made the list of all the items he stole. I saw Tillie and said, “He’s here! The guy who stole, he’s here!” She was like, “Wait, what, he’s here?!” The drama, I tell you! Dripping with drama!

I gathered my list [of the items stolen in November] which included the boneless breast (pasture-raised), steak (grass-fed), Side Hill yogurt (whole milk), SAP seltzer (made with local maple syrup), bacon (OMG tasty), and a few other items totaling around $80. While I was running around, our friend decided to do a bit more shopping — he grabbed an empty Side Hill farm yogurt box and moseyed around the store grabbing apples (from Apex orchard), random bulk produce (organic), Brewers Crackers (up-cycled from brewers’ grains), and he even went into the inner farm store to grab a half- gallon of very fresh High-Lawn milk — before coming back out to where I was gathering my info. As I got my sh*t together so he could pay for his last non-purchase, he decided to self-check out for the new items he had gathered into his box. Oh wow, he appeared to know how to use the scanner and system. Shocked, I tell you! I saw him scan the items one by one, then eventually press the button to “pay by check or cash using envelope” — which means you actually are paying by cash or check, and then, most importantly, you deposit the money/envelope into the pay box. That is kinda the point, right? You actually then pay for the items? OK, just checking you understand the system.

Next chapter…

After I saw him get a receipt, he went and found an envelope and I even saw him put the receipt (around $19) and a $20 bill in the envelope. I was relieved that he planned to pay for these items. He then followed me into the inner store so I could scan in all the items from last time and then he would use his credit card to pay. He was kind enough and followed me. I then scanned all the items while he stood patiently behind me with his box of items sitting on the butcher block table. Once all the items were scanned in, he then came up and inserted his credit card into the terminal and completed the transaction. Easy peasy! I reminded him that we operate an honor store so he needs to pay for all his items from now on; he agreed and then grabbed his box of goodies and swiftly left. Whew, I thought. I caught the guy, he paid, and I warned him not to do it again. No way he would do that again, right? All is good in the world! Let the sun shine! Case closed. Time for a drink!

Oh, well, um, not so fast…

What happens next is truly the stunner. The cherry on top. The icing on the cake. The pièce de résistance (say this last bit with your best French accent).

I walked away from the whole transaction feeling good, but in the back of my head, I had a little kernel of doubt. I could not quite pinpoint this feeling so I just let it pass. Until, until… just the other day, when I went to collect the envelopes from the previous week. We usually do this once a week or so since most folks pay using credit these days and so we have relatively few envelopes to collect. So I went and collected the envelopes from both payboxes and started to tally up the sales, and I noticed something odd. I could not find the envelope that I knew should be there. The $19 from our friend. For sure I saw him put the receipt and money into the envelope. Where could it be? I checked the boxes again, the pile of envelopes… nope, nothing. Not there. What the…?

So what did I do? I went back to the security cameras, and there, voila. I found it. In the video footage, I found myself running around like a nut case getting my list together, his shopping, me talking to him, him self-checking out and putting the money into the envelope. I knew I wasn’t crazy, I did see him pay and put the money in the envelope. But I still didn’t know where that darn envelope went. But then, I did see what happened. I could not believe what I was seeing. As I was scanning items into the system for him to pay, he was waiting behind me… still holding the envelope. Okay, I thought, that’s curious, why is he still holding the envelope? Why didn’t he already put it in the pay box? And then it hit me. He never intended to pay. And then, boom, there it was…

He coyly looked at the cameras, then down, then at the cameras again, and then, slowly, then quickly and smoothly, the envelope moved from one hand to the other. And then? And then? Is your heart sinking? Are you ready for this? Seriously? What did he do? He quickly folded the envelope in half… and stuffed it into his puffy jacket pocket. Yes! You heard me right! Just as he was about to be asked to pay for the items he stole last time… he stole again right behind my back! OMG. Are you freaking out? I was! I still am. When I saw the footage my heart truly sank. I could not believe it. It was — and it is shocking.

This is where I must tell you, and I don’t take pride in saying this: I told you. I was right. I knew it all along. He stole intentionally. And here he is, he stole again. He’s not honest. It was not a mistake. All is not always good in the world. Some people do bad things. But hey, I’m sure he is otherwise a really nice dude. But to us, in this situation, he did something wrong. That’s the fact, Jack.

After feeling totally despondent and informing some other staff at the farm, who were equally shocked and dismayed, I contacted the Lincoln police. It was time to get the police involved and stop this from ever happening again. And God love our Lincoln police officers —especially my go-to police officer, who knows who he is. Love him! He quickly came to the farm and took care of things. He went to our friend’s house in Weston, and long story short, our gray-haired, blue-puffy-jacketed friend will not be visiting the farm again, ever. We hope. He and his family know he was caught in the act, he has paid up, and he has been warned to not visit the farm again. Case closed! (until next time…)

* Epilogue *

What a story, right? Crazy.

We share all of this because it’s true. It’s the life we live here at Codman Farm. We share what we live, the good the bad, and the ugly. It’s exactly these tales that make life on the farm so interesting, each and every day. We work hard, we care about each other, and we care about you and the community. We value deeply the land we manage, the animals in our care, the soils beneath our feet that feed us. And we care about your interactions with us. We trust you, and we hope you trust us. For we are a community farm after all and we need to rely on each other so we can achieve our greatest goals together — eating well, living a healthy life, and sharing good times and bad. We understand sometimes people do dumb things. Folks make mistakes. We get that. We forgive and forget. But honesty is truly the best policy. We hope you agree.

We remain grateful to you, to each other, to our community. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday! Onwards!

Click here to watch the video of the second theft. The sequence where he pockets his cash envelope without paying starts at the 1:40 mark. 

Police Chief Kevin Kennedy said on December 15 that when confronted by police, the man paid for all of the stolen items and was not arrested. “He ended up making full restitution and I believe the farmer did not want to pursue it. They were made whole,” he said. If the thief is seen again at the store despite the ban, “we could probably charge him with trespassing,” he added.

The thief (a Weston resident who drives an Acura, according to Lowy) appeared to be unfazed by being caught red-handed. “I told him we had cameras. And he saw me take a photo of his license plate and I told him I was doing so — right in front of him,” Lowy told the Lincoln Squirrel on December 15. “I can’t say why he didn’t pay the second time — probably thought he was smarter than me, I guess. I don’t know why people do this other than they think they can get away with it.  Obviously not a very honest guy.”