Around 1:19 PM on September 7, 2023, Patrolman Ryan Spahr with the Eatontown Police Department responded to a report of a shoplifting at the Target store located at 56 State Highway 36. As he arrived at the store, he immediately made contact with someone in Asset Protection who told him that a woman with no identification who only speaks Spanish attempted to leave the store without paying for some of the items in her cart. Patrolman Spahr was led to the Asset Protection office, where the alleged shoplifter was being detained. While she initially gave a false name to the Eatontown Police, the woman was later identified as 25-year-old Maryeris Ernestina Velasquez-Joya.
After they made contact with the suspect, they also relied on help from another store employee who was translating for them. Inside the shopping cart, the officers located an Elvie breast pump along with some baby clothes that Maryeris allegedly did not pay for. Maryeris told the officers that she was pregnant and her baby was due in about 1 week. After they confirmed with Asset Protection, Maryeris was placed under arrest for shoplifting (2C:20-11B(1)) and handcuffed in front.
Maryeris initially refused to cooperate with the officers and resisted arrest. After a few minutes, Maryeris was eventually placed in the patrol car. Patrolman Spahr transported Maryeris to the Eatontown Police Department for further processing. She was handcuffed to the bench as the officers completed their paperwork. Given the language barrier, they used a translation feature on a mobile phone to communicate with her.
At the station, Maryeris told the officers that she had to pick up a 7-year-old child from a school, but she would be unable to do so. The officers called the school and notified them, although it is unclear if the child in question actually attended that school. While the police report from this report lists her as “unemployed,” in her subsequent arrest about 2 weeks later she told the officers that she cleaned houses as a housekeeper. When they asked about her occupation, she told them that she cleaned houses (housekeeper). Maryeris was released around 3:54 PM she was issued a court on October 24, 2023.
Maryeris was later arrested again for shoplifting at the same Target store about 2 weeks later on September 22, 2023. ------------------------------------------------------------- Please LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and consider making a donation to support this channel on Venmo (Account name: drive-thru-tours) or CashApp (Account name: $DriveThruTours). Donations will be used to acquire more public footage related to law enforcement activities.
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