Increasingly, Martha’s Vineyard farmers are wrestling with a challenge unrelated to weather or harvests. Thievery from farm stands is hitting the bottom line.
The Mermaid Farm on Middle Road in Chilmark was the most recent target. Allen Healy, co-owner of the farm with his wife Caitlin Jones, didn’t discover he’d been robbed on Dec. 29 until he took inventory and counted the cash from the can the next morning. He checked the footage from his recently installed security cameras, and it clearly showed the alleged perpetrator in the act and the car in which he drove away. Chilmark police detective Sean Slavin responded to his call.
“The suspect didn’t look familiar, and his vehicle had out-of-state plates,” Detective Slavin told The Times. “He made four trips to his car, carrying as much as his arms could carry.” The suspect took milk, cheese, yogurt, and other goods worth $103, according to Detective Slavin. The video showed he left a $20 bill in the can.
Detective Slavin took a photo of the video footage on his cell phone and texted it to police officers in all six towns at 10:44 am. At 11:05 am, off-duty Chilmark Police Chief Brian Cioffi was driving in his truck when he saw the suspect’s vehicle drive by going the other way on South Road. “I’d received a photograph of the suspect from Detective Slavin, and the pictures matched,” Chief Cioffi told The Times. “I followed him to Alley’s [General Store], and with the assistance of West Tisbury police, we blocked him in. We’re happy we caught another person stealing from the honor system.”
Police arrested Daniel Levin, 41, of Washington, D.C. According to Detective Slavin, Mr. Levin gave police permission to search his home, where they found stolen goods and psilocybin mushrooms. Mr. Levin was arraigned in Edgartown District Court on charges of shoplifting by concealing merchandise and possession of class C drug.
Mr. Slavin said the Mermaid Farm theft had no connection to a prior string of up-Island farm-stand thefts. “We caught one adult for the farm-stand thefts this fall, and more recently we caught the kids who stole a cash box,” he said.
The 100-acre Mermaid Farm has a devoted following for its milk, yogurt, yogurt drinks (lassi), cheeses, beef, lamb, and produce. It’s one of few farms on the Island that sells raw milk, which goes for $14 a gallon.
Troubling trend
Mr. Healy estimates he lost about $50 a week to shoplifters in 2014. “When I did the numbers for last year, we were alarmed at how much was being taken,” he said. “The week of Thanksgiving, we lost over $400. I think the honor system is done.”
Three weeks prior to the theft, Mr. Healy had upgraded from a self-installed security camera to a professionally installed system, which he said cost him about $1,500. “I had four cameras installed,” he said. “There’s one on the cash can, one at the gate, one at face level, and another covering the general area. If you steal, you will get caught,” he said.
Mr. Healy said his new system, with bigger, more visible cameras, appears to be deterring would-be thieves. “I’ve actually gone three, four days without anything being stolen,” he said. “I have footage of a woman who took some yogurt and pulled cash out of the cash can, then she notices the camera and put it back. The look on her face was priceless.”
Mr. Healy said he’s considering hiring someone to work at the stand this summer. “It’s a tradeoff between how much you pay someone to be there and how much you could lose,” he said.
Other merchants are also feeling the pinch from pilfery, according to Mr. Healy. “Or maybe we’re just noticing it more,” he said. “Either way, just about everybody I know has cameras now. There’s a honey farmer I know who hasn’t, and he’s always getting robbed.”
