On the evening of November 25, 1995, 51-year-old Janet Sylvester of Lakeville was arrested and charged with attempting to steal several items from Lechmere, a department store at the Silver City Galleria in Taunton.
Store security told the arresting Taunton Police officer that Sylvester, a married mother of three children, had her eight-year-old son wheel a shopping carriage containing a TV and other items out a back door without first paying for them.
Sylvester said she had a second carriage with merchandise and was about to pay for everything when the security officer returned her son to the store and notified the police. Sylvester said she had a check made out to Lechmere when she was arrested…