A woman from New Jersey has entered a plea of not guilty on charges of stealing beauty products worth more than $10,000 from stores in Hingham and Hanover. This announcement was made by Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz.
In Hingham District Court on Friday, Ana Lucia Pacheco, 20, entered a not guilty plea for two separate criminal cases. She is facing charges of Organized Retail Crime, Conspiracy, and Larceny over $1,200 in both cases. Pacheco was held on $15,000 bail for each case, resulting in a total bail amount of $30,000. As a condition of her bail, she was also ordered to stay away from all Sephora locations in Hingham and Hanover. The Commonwealth had initially requested bail to be set at $250,000 for both of Pacheco’s criminal cases.
In October 2024, Hanover Police received a call from a loss prevention officer at the popular national retailer, Sephora. The officer informed the police that they had identified a female suspect from the store’s surveillance footage. This suspect was involved in shoplifting incidents at Sephora stores in both Hingham and Hanover on October 15. Interestingly, the suspect had already been apprehended for shoplifting at a Sephora store in Pennsylvania. The surveillance footage clearly showed the suspect, Pacheco, collaborating with other individuals to steal merchandise from the two Massachusetts locations.
A total of $11,947 worth of merchandise was stolen from both the Hingham Sephora and the Hanover location. Investigators found that $6,850 worth of merchandise was stolen from the Hingham store, while $5,097 worth of merchandise was stolen from the Hanover store.
Hanover Police reached out to the Massachusetts State Police Information Network to initiate the investigation. Following a thorough investigation, detectives gathered sufficient evidence and subsequently obtained an arrest warrant for Pacheco. Massachusetts State Police apprehended her in Pennsylvania and brought her back to the Commonwealth on Friday to face the charges.
The next court appearance for Pacheco is set for February 21, where a probable cause hearing will take place.
In January 2024, DA Cruz established an Organized Retail Crime Task Force in the PCDAO to collaborate with retailers, Chambers of Commerce, law enforcement, and other stakeholders in tackling the problem of store theft.
