A screen shot from the viral video from Oxford.
OXFORD — A flood of tips from neighbors helped police build a case against three people charged with orchestrating a shoplifting spree that was caught on video at Market 32, a grocery store on Route 67.
State police announced the arrests Thursday.
James H. Hill, 44, Nasif Amir Muhammad, 51, and Brandy J. Quadrato, 36, all from New Haven, were charged with fourth-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit fourth-degree larceny in connection to the Nov. 9 incident, the video of which went viral on the Internet.
Hill, whose arrest warrant states has more than 20 open criminal cases pending in various Connecticut courts, was arrested Nov. 18. Police didn’t announce his arrest until after the other suspects were arrested. Muhammad was charged Dec. 1 and Quadrato was charged Dec. 2.
Court records indicate a fourth arrest is possible, and that the group is suspected of similar shoplifting sprees in Ansonia, Clinton, Old Lyme, Southington and Wallingford (from where a second video went viral).
According to arrest warrants used to charge the trio, state police in Oxford received a call on the department’s non-emergency line at about 6:40 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 9 from an employee at Market 32 saying several people had just stolen merchandise from the store.
State Police Photo
(Left to right) Nasif Amir Muhammad, Brandy J. Quadrato, James H. Hill.
The crime is alleged to have started at about 6:30 a.m., when the trio — wearing face coverings — allegedly went into the store and started loading laundry detergent and paper towels into grocery carts. They rolled the carts to two getaway vehicles waiting directly outside the store, then frantically loaded the items into the vehicles. They allegedly stole about $1,660 in merchandise.
The brazen crime was caught on camera by an eyewitness and uploaded to social media. Press play to watch the video, which is embedded below. The article continues after the video.
The video went viral across the U.S., police note in the arrest warrants.
Two days after the shoplifting spree, a person contacted Oxford police saying he recognized the woman in the video as a neighbor of his in New Haven. In addition, the tipster gave an exact address in New Haven where police could find the Honda Odyssey seen in the video. Police took possession of the vehicle, a fact they announced to the public on Nov. 12.
The tipster identified Quadrato as the female from the video, and said he recognized one of the suspects as a guy always hanging around the housing complex with Quadrato.
Other neighbors contacted police, saying they recognized Quadrato and her cohorts, too — and that neighbors suspected the group of constantly stealing packages from the neighborhood.
Oxford investigators even received a copy of a text message and photo, allegedly sent by Hill, showing him with more than 100 bottles of laundry detergent. A caption with the photo offered the items up for sale — $10 each, or three for $25.
“This matches the believed pattern of this group in which they shoplift items and attempt to sell them for profit,” according to a warrant authored by Oxford Police Officer David Hare.
Police officers from New Haven also helped in building a case, as a New Haven cop said he was familiar with the group from patrolling the neighborhood.
Quadrato was scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Derby on Dec. 2. Hill is due in court Dec. 6. Muhammad was scheduled to appear Dec. 1.
