N.Y.P.D. Sergeant Is Charged With Shoplifting From Target

The police in New York City have been, for the past few years, struggling to address a jump in shoplifting and petty thefts. So far this year, the Police Department has recorded more than 57,000 retail thefts; at this time last year, there were 55,543.

But on Saturday, a New York City police sergeant was arrested and charged with two counts of petty larceny after officials said she was caught shoplifting at a Target on Long Island.

The sergeant, Rayna Madho, 41, was arrested by police in Nassau County in connection to two thefts from the store in Valley Stream, one on Dec. 7 and an earlier incident on Nov. 24.

On Dec. 7, Sergeant Madho was using the self-scanning machines and did not scan all of her merchandise, the Nassau County police said. A store employee stopped her.

She did not respond to a request for comment, but her arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 27 in Hempstead, where she is expected to plead guilty or not guilty.

She has been suspended without pay, according to a spokesman for the New York Police Department.

Sergeant Madho joined the police force in 2006; she was promoted to detective in 2013 and then sergeant later that year. She worked in several precincts around the city, including in Manhattan and Brooklyn. In 2021, she began working with a unit that arranges photo arrays for detectives investigating cases citywide.