By Michael Bielawski

A bill the Vermont House Judiciary Committee has been reviewing this week would allow prosecutors to aggregate the value of stolen goods among multiple retail thefts until the amount reaches the $900 felony threshold – then charge the suspect with a single felony count. 

State law defines stealing up to $900 as a misdemeanor. In some jurisdictions, both police and prosecutors, aware of the Covid-era backlog in cases, do little or nothing to pursue misdemeanor shoplifting. That’s a fact that shoplifters – many desperate to have something of value to sell or offer to their drug dealers – appear to be privy to.

Lawmakers took up H. 381 last year which also dealt with penalties for the aggregate of stolen goods. That bill never got voted out of committee. According to Kelly Devine, the executive director for the Burlington Business Association (BBA) since 2007, it was put aside because there were questions about how it would be enforced.

“The reason given was because of the inconsistent level of implementation and philosophies of our state’s attorneys in our different counties,” Devine said in November.

New bill aggregates stolen good values, also cuts maximum sentence in half

This week, House Judiciary is looking at H. 534, also intended to allow for the aggregation of stolen goods when prosecuting repeat offenders. It also would cut in half the maximum sentence, from 10 years to five years. 

Melissa Desautels, owner of Whim Boutique in Burlington since 2011 and the shoe store Dear Lucy since 2015, was the first to testify.

“As it stands right now, stores are losing money daily, we are losing valuable employees that are hard to come by in the current economy. The current laws are telling these offenders that they are above the law and they can continue on these sprees with zero jail time or fines or community service.

“These thefts are ‘a death by a thousand cuts’ and could put me out of business and into therapy.”

She said police officers don’t seem to think it’s worth their time to go after shoplifters who are unlikely to see consequences.

“I kind of feel like it’s the judicial system that’s failing me at this point,” she said.

The three types of shoplifters

Desautels says she sees three types of shoplifters, one being high school girls that “typically steals on impulse or possibly for the quick thrill of getting away with it.”

She described the second type as “a thief or thieves who enter my small shop and we instantly get a bad feeling, the way they spread out, [and] their mannerisms.”

She said these people are sometimes threatening.

“We’ve been spit on, threatened with bodily harm, or even a lawsuit,” Desautels said. “They want to sue me for taking back the goods that are mine, and honestly I think they would win in court.”

She says she will often share the security footage with police and obtain a no-trespass order, but “then nothing happens, and they know nothing will.”

The third type is the “unsuspecting repeat offenders”. She dubbed one that she’s been dealing with for years as ‘Eleanor’.

“She changes her hair sometimes, wears a hat, she sees a new employee in the window working and takes advantage. Comes off as unassuming, she’s wearing nice and trendy clothes that she stole.”

She said she would strike up a friendly conversation but would then abruptly leave with five or six items tucked away.

She said after a no-trespass order was issued she still kept coming back. She said this went on for 5 years and finally, Eleanor had a court date.

“I went to the hearing but she didn’t show up,” she said. “It was almost a joke. Even the judge gave her the benefit of the doubt for not showing up. They set a future court date, I haven’t been back to court. … Why make the effort when it’s clearly a joke to everyone but me?”

Lawmakers said the current proposal with the bill is to have a two-week stretch where the aggregation of stolen goods can count towards a felony conviction, but Desautels said two weeks maybe is not enough. “In the case of the people that I deal with, it almost needs a longer timeframe,” she said.

Lawmaker still not convinced

Rep. Martin Lalonde, D-South Burlington, the chair of the committee as well as a lead sponsor of the bill, remained uncommitted to making repeat shoplifting a felony.

“But if those cases were being processed there would be accountability, and it’s not necessarily going to help by making these felonies,” he said.

Desautels responded, “I would like it to be enough of a penalty where they are not incentivized to keep doing it, so it’s not just like a wrist-slap and just goes on their record because obviously these people don’t care about what their record looks like, they are not out trying to find a job or something.”

Rep. Burditt also told VDC yesterday that the felony upgrade might not be necessary if the backlog problem – many cases going unadjuticated for more than a year – could be resolved. 

Judge says felony convictions can be too much work

Chief Superior Judge of the Vermont Judiciary Thomas Zonay, was next to testify.

“It would very likely cause delays beyond what would be there for a misdemeanor,” he said.

Zoney suggested reconsidering mandatory time with work crews as an alternative to jail time. He suggested it still provides sufficient incentive for the perpetrator to show up.

“And if you don’t show up, you get picked up and you go to jail,” Zoney said.

More testimonies can be heard throughout the hour and 46-minute committee hearing.

The author is a reporter for the Vermont Daily Chronicle

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