Thursday, the Waterford Police Department charged a 21-year-old woman with first-degree larceny after she allegedly stole hundreds of Pandora charms from Jared Jewelers, which is where she worked.
On February 28th, the Waterford Police Department charged Chassa Ladson, 21, of 33 Summer St, New London, with first-degree larceny. The arrest came after Ladson allegedly stole hundreds of bracelets from Jared Jewelers during her 10-month employment at the Waterford jewelry store.
Ladson told police she would give the charms to a man named Juan Rodriquez, who sold them on eBay and at The Gold Club of Groton, a strip club, and would give her 10 percent of the profit. When pressed by police, Ladson refused to give more information about Rodriquez, and instead said she would “take the fall” for the larceny, according to a court documents.
A person is guilty of first-degree larceny if they are found to have stolen more than $10,000, or property deemed to have a value above $10,000, according to Connecticut’s state statutes. It is a Class B felony, which means it is punishable with between one to 20 years in jail, according to Connecticut state statutes.
The Arrest
On Sept. 26, at around 10 p.m., Waterford Police Officer John Bunce was called to Jared Jewelers in Waterford, according to an arrest report written by Bunce. There, he was met with the store manager, a Jared loss-prevention manager and Ladson, according to the report.
In that meeting, the store manager said he recently did an inventory check of the store, and found it was missing 1,341 Pandora charms and beads, according to the report. Jared’s bought the 1,341 charms for $33,325.59 and they have an approximate retail value of $125,000, according to the report.
At the meeting, Bunce interviewed Ladson, who said she had stolen around 1,600 charms from the store since she began working there in December 2011, according to the report. She told Bunce she would give the charms to Rodriguez, who would sell them at The Gold Club or on eBay, according to the report.
Ladson told Bunce she worked four or five days a week, and would steal between 20 and 25 charms per shift by concealing them in her sweater pocket, according to the report. Rodriquez would then sell them, and give her 10 percent of the profit, according to the report. She was fired from her job after that meeting, according to the report.
Two days later, Bunce interviewed Ladson in the Waterford Police Department. There, she changed her story, saying she only stole about 500 charms, according to the report. Ladson also refused to give any contact information for Rodriquez, saying he moved to North Carolina several months ago and she hadn’t had any contact with him since, and she would “take the fall” for the larceny, according to the report.
Later, Bunce executed search warrants on Ladson’s accounts and found she had sold the Pandora charms on eBay and had the money deposited in her account, according to court records. Ladson said she would let Rodriguez sell the charms on her eBay account, and then she would give him the money and she would get back around 10 percent, according to the report.
With that information, the Waterford Police Department charged Ladson on February 28th with first-degree larceny.
