Crime & Safety
Police Blotter: Kitchen A La Mode Theft
The following arrest information was supplied by the South Orange Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction.
- Ben Salmon, the owner of , said on Dec. 5 at approximately 12:40 p.m., four people, three women and one man, described as being Middle Eastern entered his store and removed several items without paying.
Salmon reports the four people, wearing thick white robes while in the store, entered the store in an attempt to shoplift. One of the women distracted Salmon by asking questions in broken English. She went from product to product asking questions while the rest of the group went unnoticed.
While the woman was distracting Salmon, the other people in her group were allegedly placing items under their robes. Among the items taken according to Salmon were Mauviel copper pans, All-Clad LTD2 pans, Swiss Diamond non-stick pans, a Wusthof set of knives and an All-Clad roasting pan. The roasting pan is weighty and comes with a rack for a turkey and lifting forks.
“I thought (one of the women) was holding her robe up so that it wouldn’t sweep against the floor and get dirty,” Salmon told Patch the next day. “She was actually holding the pan. You just don’t expect that. It’s crazy.”
At first Salmon didn’t realize what was happening until he noticed that merchandise was missing from his shelves. After consulting his staff, they determined the merchandise disappeared while the four robed patrons were in the store. Salmon estimates the stolen merchandise to be worth $1,500.
- Kitchen A La Mode was not the only store to have this robbery situation happen to them. The owner of , said on Dec. 5 at approximately 12:45 p.m., four people, three women and one man, described as being Middle Eastern and wearing white robes entered his store. The owner said about five minutes after they exited the store, he discovered several articles of clothing had been stolen.
- Douglas Decastro, a 46 year old Oxford resident, was arrested on Dec. 5 at approximately 2:20 p.m. after officers responded to a call of a suspicious individual on the campus of . During the investigation, it was discovered Decastro had an outstanding warrant issued for his arrest from Newark.
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