Narragansett
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Toothbrushes becoming hot commodity among thieves
07:15 AM EST on Tuesday, November 25, 2008
BARRINGTON — The police will be spending the week looking at videotape from two local drugstores, hoping to put the bite on a pair of shoplifters who stole $1,215 worth of toothbrushes in separate incidents last week.
A Narragansett store was hit by a similar theft, although the police there were not releasing details yesterday.
“If it’s happening in those two places, it’s all over the state,” said Barrington Detective Lt. Dino DeCrescenzo.
In the Barrington incidents, four electric toothbrushes worth up to $160 each were extracted from the CVS on County Road on Thursday.
The next day, the police said, the duo struck the Rite Aid store just up the street, cleaning them out of four more units and two packs of replacement brush heads. Total value: just under $624.
The Rite Aid robber, garbed in a baseball cap, was described as having crooked teeth.
In both incidents, each occurring around 1 p.m., the thief escaped through an emergency exit.
DeCrescenzo said the heists apparently involved a driver/lookout.
Why toothbrushes?
“Any kind of hygiene product is hot right now,” said Narragansett Detective Lt. William McGovern. It’s not just toothbrushes. Packs of razor blades are also lucrative for thieves because they’re easy to resell. “They’re expensive.”
The robbers may also try to return them to the store for cash, or the items may show up at flea markets.
And it’s not just in Rhode Island.
A 23-year-old Warwick man was arrested at the Stop & Shop in Somerset on Sunday just after noontime after he allegedly stole a two-pack of brush heads for a Crest electric toothbrush. But in this case, the total value was $6.99.
Stopped after a store security officer reportedly witnessed the theft, the Warwick man said he had a receipt for the brush heads. The receipt turned out to be from another Stop & Shop, in North Providence.
In addition, the police said, the man initially gave a phony first name and birthday — until his girlfriend, who was with him, identified him by a different first name.
His case was dismissed yesterday afternoon in District Court, Fall River, pending the payment of a $100 fine, plus court costs.
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