Man Charged for Stealing Wallet from Cart as Mom, Son, Shopped for Thanksgiving Food: Warrant

MANSFIELD, CT — A man is custody on a high bond for an incident in which he is accused of stealing a wallet out of a shopping cart while a woman and her son were food shopping just before Thanksgiving, according to police and court records.

Richy Montanez, 41, who lived in Willimantic at the time of the incident, is due for a second court appearance on Feb. 15 while being held on a $50,000 bond, according to court records. He has been charged with sixth-degree larceny, court records indicate.

According to an arrest warrant, a woman and her son were shopping last Nov. 21 at the Big Y supermarket in Mansfield.

The woman's purse was sitting in the carriage on the top compartment that doubles as a child seat, according to an arrest warrant.

The woman selected something in the frozen food aisle, turned toward the cart and noticed a man wearing a dark-colored hood walking away from the vicinity of the cart, according to an arrest warrant.

He had taken the wallet out of the purse, according an an arrest warrant.

The incident was reviewed via surveillance footage and state police eventually arrested Montanez, a warrant indicates. He was located a week ago and arrested, state police said.

Photo Credit: Patch file.