Shoplifters Pinch $37K in Merchandise from Ulta Beauty

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Four people have been charged for lifting thousands of dollars in merchandise from the Ulta Beauty store in Berkshire Crossing. 
 
Police were called to the store on Monday night by employees of the beauty products salon and arrested four people — two adults and two juveniles — who had more than $5,000 worth of products on them. 
 
Raquan Cartre, 22, and Jonneasia Welcome, 19, both of Albany, N.Y., are now wanted after failing to appear in Cental Berkshire District Court on Tuesday
 
District Attorney Timothy Shugrue says more than $37,000 in total has been stolen in four separate incidents from Ulta Beauty just in the last month. Employees have reported that in these incidents the suspects have driven away in a car with New York plates.
 
Monday's incident began at 7 p.m. when the report came in of a shoplifting in progress. Lt. Matthew Hill said in his report that the store "had been the target of organized theft multiple times in recent weeks."
 
Ulta Beauty sells a range of perfumes and beauty products including from such brands as Clinique and Dior.
 
Employees gave a description of the car that had fled the scene and Sgt. Matthew Killeen stopped a vehicle matching the description on Dalton Avenue. Killeen said he saw reusable shopping bag full of perfumes and colognes in plain sight. Another officer, at Ulta, was viewing the surveillance footage and two individuals on the footage matched those in the car, according to police. Upon their arrest, 39 bottles of perfume and cologne, worth $5,145, were removed from the vehicle.
 
They were arrested and released on personal recognizance on Monday night. A warrant has been issued for their arrest after their failure to show up in court. 
 
Welcome, Carter and both juveniles have been charged with organized retail crime and larceny over $1,200; Carter has also been charged with receiving stolen property over $1,200 and with possession of open marijuana in motor vehicle.
 
The case remains an ongoing investigation. Pittsfield Police Detective Anthony Dayton is investigating the case.

Tags: shoplifting,   theft,   

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Berkshire Museum Explores Ancient Egypt With ‘Soulful Creatures’

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Following its multimillion-dollar renovation, the Berkshire Museum is welcoming an exhibition unlike any it has been able to host before.
 
Marking the museum's first major exhibition since its renovation, "Soulful Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt," opening Saturday, Oct. 10, thins the veil between the ever-evolving history of Egyptian culture and society and modern day people. 
 
"The most important thing about history is recognizing people from the past as actual people. Ancient Egyptians are no different than us," said William Dore, the museum's chief curator. "They have different cultures and beliefs and different viewpoints, but you can say the same thing about people today."
 
When audiences experience the exhibit, they will see the humanity in the people of the past, which in turn helps them connect with different views and perspectives around the world today, he said. 
 
Combining archeology with modern scientific imaging, Brooklyn (N.Y.) Museum curators Yekaterina Barbash and Edward Bleiberg designed an exhibit that works to uncover the mysteries behind these objects and the beliefs and rituals that surround them. 
 
"I think something that people kind of misunderstand about history is none of it's ever settled. ... History is a science that is constantly questioned,” Dore said. "It only works if everyone's constantly rethinking things, learning new things ... which is for me super exciting because as much as we know a lot about the ancient Egyptians, there's a lot we don't know.”
 
The installation features dozens of artifacts on loan from the Brooklyn Museum that explores the practice of animal mummification and the role animals played in ancient Egyptian religion. 
 
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