Mother, Daughter Charged with Shoplifting from Kohl's in Norwalk

A mother and daughter from Stamford were arrested on shoplifting charges in Norwalk after a store detective followed them out and confronted them in the parking lot, Norwalk police said.

But the arrest wasn't that simple: Police said the pair drove off even after the store detective told them he'd report the number on their SUV's license plate. And, according to police reports, that's what they did and that's what he did.

Norwalk police gave this account (an accusation not proven in court) of the matter:

The store detective (also known as a "loss prevention officer") in the Kohl's store at 500 Connecticut Ave. saw two women, the older one with a patch over one eye, pass the checkout area and leave the store without paying for items they were carrying.

He followed them out and confronted them at their car and asked them for their receipt. He said they admitted to him that they hadn't paid for the items.

The woman later identified as Nancy Rosso, 65, of Strawberry Hill Avenue in Stamford, was about to go back to the store with the detective when the other woman, later identified as her daughter, Vanessa Hickey, 37, of Sylvan Knoll Road in Stamford, urged her mother to leave with her in the car.

The store detective told them he'd report their license plate number. Hickey then went to the back of the vehicle and bent the license plate so it couldn't be read. The pair drove off. But the store detective already had the license plate number.

After Norwalk police received the report at 3:52 p.m., they looked up the license plate, which brought up Rosso's name and address. Stamford police went to her home.

One of the women at the residence, Rosso, was wearing an eye patch. The rear license plate of a car at the residence, a Ford Escape SUV, had a bent rear license plate.

Norwalk police then spoke with the pair and asked them to report to the police department for arrest, which would save police the trouble of applying for an arrest warrant. Both mother and daughter complied.

The total cost of the items taken was $1,260.

Each was charged with fourth-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit fourth degree larceny.  Each was released on $500 bond pending Aug. 29 appearances in state Superior Court in Norwalk.

On top of that, each is forbidden to be in any Kohl's store, anywhere, as a condition of their release, otherwise they would be arrested.