Wilmington Man Charged In Two Shoplifting Incidents
On January 12, 2022, at about 1720 hours, Newark Police received a report of a shoplifting that occurred about 15 minutes prior at the Acme located at 100 Suburban Drive in Newark. The reporting person, an Acme loss prevention employee, reported that the employee observed a male enter the store. The employee recognized this male from a prior shoplifting incident that had not yet been reported to police. The employee determined which vehicle the male had parked in the parking lot and obtained the license plate number of the vehicle. The employee then observed the male push a shopping cart full of merchandise past the registers and towards the exit of the store. The employee confronted the male as to his failure to pay for the merchandise. The male declined to pay for the merchandise, left the store and entered the vehicle for which the employee had recorded the license plate number. The total value of the merchandise involved was under $200.00.
The employee reported to Newark Police that on December 29, 2021, the same male was observed on video entering the store and similarly removing merchandise without paying for the merchandise. The total value of the merchandise was under $200.00.
The employee was able to research the owner of the vehicle as the displayed license plate was a Delaware State Representative plate containing initials of the representative. The employee viewed a photo of the representative and confirmed that the vehicle owner and the suspect in these incidents were the same person – Gerald Brady, 65, of Wilmington.
On January 25, 2022, a warrant was issued for Brady’s arrest for two counts of Shoplifting (misdemeanor). Brady immediately turned himself in to Newark Police on the same date and was released on his own recognizance to appear in Newark Alderman’s Court at a later date.
Note to media – The Newark Police Department is aware that members of the media became aware of these incidents at some point last week and inquired as to the investigation. The Newark Police Department has to weigh the investigation, presumed innocence of a suspect and the need to keep the public safe when releasing information to the public as to ongoing investigations. Longstanding Newark Police Department policy prohibits identifying a suspect in an investigation until such time as an arrest warrant based upon probable cause has been issued by a court with jurisdiction over the matter. In this case, the investigation concluded on January 24, 2022. A request for an arrest warrant was presented to a judge the next morning – January 25, 2022. A judge found probable cause for arrest and issued an arrest warrant. Mr. Brady was contacted and immediately turned himself in on the warrant a few hours later.
