LEBANON — Police say they have identified the man who allegedly stole a cashbox containing about $1,000 from a Girl Scout cookie sales table near the entrance to the Walmart on Route 12A on Wednesday, according to a Lebanon Police news release.
On Thursday, police said that as a result of information received from the community, along with subsequent investigative efforts, police identified the suspect as an “out of state” resident.
The individual is not in custody, and police are in the process of obtaining the appropriate arrest warrants, the release said.
The impacted troop of six high school-aged Girl Scouts lost funds that were part of an effort to go on an international trip.
The theft occurred at about 1:50 p.m. The suspect — described as a white male wearing a white sweatshirt, blue jeans, a black hat and a black mask — grabbed the metal cashbox and fled on foot toward a wooded area behind the plaza, the news release said.
Troop leader Kate Eads Galdieri was there with her daughter Veronica Galdieri, an 18-year-old Girl Scout who is a member of the high-school-aged troop out of Concord. While the two were out selling cookies, the suspect exited Walmart, approached the table, leaned over to inquire about prices and promptly swiped the cash box from the middle of the table, Eads Galdieri said Thursday by phone. Then, he ran off.
In Eads Galdieri’s 13 years with the Girl Scouts, she’s never heard of anything like this happening before.
“It’s not common,” she said.
The money was not being stored in an envelope or small bag that would be easy to swipe, said Eads Galdieri. Rather, it’s kept in a metal cash box in the center of the table behind the cookies, which made the decision to steal it particularly bold.
“He was wearing a face mask. I will say that didn’t trigger us at all because it was cold,” said Eads Galdieri.
Eads Galdieri was told by an employee by the shopping carts that the suspect had gone over to speak to him and was looking at the Girl Scout table during that interaction.
“I bet he was talking to the cart guy so he could get a good look at how we were set up,” said Eads Galdieri.
The $1,000 in the box amounts to roughly 166 boxes of cookies, though not all the money was made on that day at that location. The troop was raising funds for a June trip to Europe for the six girls and three adults, which amounts to about $30,000, Eads Galdieri said.
Officers assisted by a police K-9 team tracked the suspect to the rear parking lot of the New Hampshire State Liquor Store. Surveillance footage showed the individual crossing the lot before getting into a white Jeep Grand Cherokee with unknown registration plates.
The cashbox was later recovered in the woods; the money was not inside.
The Lebanon Walmart pledged $400 to the Girl Scout troop to help them reach the $1,000 that were stolen. The Lebanon Police Chief Phil Roberts also invited the troop to participate in a golf tournament fundraiser for children and families this summer to make up the remaining amount, Eads Galdieri said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Lebanon Police Department at 603-448-1212 or submit a tip online at LebanonNH.gov/CLUE or by calling 603-448-2583.
