Local thrift stores experience theft, ask public to donate during business hours

Home City News Local thrift stores experience theft, ask public to donate during business hours
Collegian | Lauren Scott
Collegian | Lauren Scott
Collegian | Lauren Scott

After a series of thefts that led to an arrest, thrift store owners in Hillsdale are asking the public to donate items during business hours only. Police arrested one individual after a business owner alleged that someone had been stealing items from a donation bin. 

According to Hillsdale Police Chief Scott Hephner, the City of Hillsdale Police Department responded to a call about theft from donation bins at the Hillsdale Community Thrift store Monday, Aug. 23. After arriving at the scene, police arrested 36-year-old Meagan Lynne Hershiser on outstanding warrants. 

Melissa DesJardin, executive director of Hillsdale Community Thrift, said she received suspicious notifications from her security cameras four nights in a row before Hershiser was arrested on the fourth night.

“About 8 p.m. is when it notified me, when I finally figured out the camera system, she was there and I immediately called the police,” DesJardin said. 

DesJardin said that through the camera, she could see Hershiser stealing items from the donation bin behind the store.

Courtesy | Melissa DesJardin
Courtesy | Melissa DesJardin

Hephner said Hershiser was initially taken into custody at the scene for outstanding warrants. According to the Hillsdale City Police Department, police then charged her with possession with intent to deliver meth, no bond allowed. The investigation is ongoing. 

“My evidence from my camera of her stealing our stuff got them the search and seizure to go inside of her vehicle and that’s obviously when they found the meth,” DesJardin said. 

Hershiser was not the only person in the car, according to DesJardin, who said that in the surveillance footage, she could hear an infant in the car. 

“You could hear a screaming infant in the car at 1 a.m. You could hear a screaming kid in the car, tired, hungry, upset- and that is so upsetting,” DesJardin said.

Hephner said that while Hershiser does have children, he is unsure whether or not there was a child at the scene. 

Hephner said these thefts “were all tied to the same person and she has been arrested on outstanding warrants.” However, he said, she was charged with “nothing related to the thefts of the donated items from the thrift store,” Hephner said. 

DesJardin said the store encourages people to drop off donations during business hours, which are from 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

“The importance of donating during business hours is basically so that we can care for items properly,” she said.

“The other problem is when people donate and then they leave it there, they expect that we are going to take good care of it, we are going to put it in our store, or give it to someone who is in need of it,” DesJardin said. “What is happening is that a lot of the homeless are stealing it and there are piles. There are mounds and mounds of stuff.”  

Nicole Pickell, upcoming assistant manager of Hillsdale’s Salvation Army Donation Center, said her location has been experiencing similar problems. According to Pickell, the Salvation Army has experienced theft and the destruction of property daily. 

“We find people in the dumpsters as soon as we leave,” Pickell said. “It’s not really safe because there’s broken glass in there. ”

Pickell said that if she could say one thing to the Hillsdale community, it would be, “Please donate during business hours.”