Middletown Police Officer Accused Of Theft In Self-Checkout Lanes

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — A Middletown police officer is accused of stealing six different times from the self-checkout lanes of a local store, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago announced Thursday.

The officer is Brenden Santiago, 36, who lives in Tinton Falls. On Thursday, he was charged with one count of third-degree shoplifting and one count of fourth-degree attempted shoplifting.

Santiago is accused of doing this in the self-checkout lanes of the store. The prosecutor did not name the store, only calling it a "discount department-store chain."

The prosecutor alleges Santiago successfully “skip-scanned” items, which is where he scanned multiple less-expensive items, and deliberately did not scan more-expensive items— or he pretended to scan then.

This happened on six different occasions at various locations of the chain store from mid- to late December 2023, said the prosecutor. In one instance, Santiago was wearing a Middletown Police Department uniform while committing the alleged theft.

On Jan. 9, Santiago was observed once again “skip-scanning” items and attempted to shoplift and leave the store with unpaid items for a seventh time, said police. This time, an employee “receipt-checked” Santiago’s purchases, "and therefore Santiago never completed the act of shoplifting," said the prosecutor's office.

The total value of all stolen goods was in excess of $500.

“The criminal conduct alleged in the complaints filed against Patrolman Santiago are deeply troubling and do not reflect the values of our agency," said Middletown Police Chief R. Craig Weber. "We firmly believe that trust and integrity are the essential cornerstones of policing and we hold our employees to the highest professional and ethical standards. Santiago has been relieved of duty and suspended without pay pending the resolution of this matter.”

This case was investigated by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Professional Responsibility Unit and the Middletown Township Police Department. If anyone has any additional information about this matter, please contact Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Detective Brian Hammarstrom at 800-533-7443.