Cops: Razor Thief Caught After Leaving One Enormous Clue

Don’t give New Canaan police too much credit for solving this particular case. Based on the police account (an accusation not proven in court), it was far too easy.

Here’s how police described what happened and how they came to arrest Colin D. Campbell, 26, of Benedict Hill Road after accusing him of stealing $70 worth of razor blades:

Campbell entered Walgreens Pharmacy on Pine Street at about 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 30, picked up a box of Norelco razor blades and then entered a store bathroom.

When he came out, he was no longer carrying the box (later found without the blades and in the bathroom), but he was fidgeting with his shirt. He then bought cigarettes. He bought them with a debit card that had his name on it.

The store manager later saw the box in the bathroom and looked through the store’s video surveillance footage. That led police to the transaction and Campbell’s name, then his address in town.

Police applied for an arrest warrant charging him with sixth-degree larceny. A judge approved the warrant. Campbell was notified that police had the warrant, and he turned himself in at the police station on Nov. 5. He was released on a promise to appear Nov. 19 in state Superior Court in Norwalk.

Campbell was previously convicted of use of drug paraphernalia in 2007, and again in 2009. Last April, he was convicted (for the second time) of driving while under the influence, for which he was given a six-month suspended sentence and put on probation for 18 months — a probation which is still in effect.

For a trip down memory lane, this Norelco TV commercial from the 1970s gets you there in style.