Pittsfield and Sheffield — In a press release sent to The Berkshire Edge on Wednesday, October 8, Berkshire District Attorney’s Office Chief of Operations Julia Sabourin reported a series of thefts from motor vehicles since the beginning of the month.
According to Sabourin, on Wednesday, October 1, at 9:27 a.m., an officer from the Sheffield Police Department responded to 1399C North Main Street, the location of Lumberjack Athletics Gym, for reports of thefts from motor vehicles.
Sabourin wrote that three women had their purses stolen from their cars while attending a fitness class.
In reviewing video surveillance from the parking lot, law enforcement officials saw a white SUV exiting the property at 7:38 a.m.
The vehicle has been identified as a Jeep Cherokee or Compass, and the license plate on the automobile was previously reported stolen from a car in Dalton.
On the same day, two women in Pittsfield reported their checkbooks and personal items stolen from their cars while parked in the Williams Street Shopping Plaza in Pittsfield.
On Thursday, October 2, the Sheffield Police Department received a report from one of the victims in the North Main Street theft that a Berkshire Bank branch in Worcester alerted her that an individual was attempting to cash a check using her identity.
Video surveillance from the area surrounding the Berkshire Bank branch shows the same white Jeep SUV previously seen at the North Main Street parking lot.
Also on October 2, officers from the Pittsfield Police Department were dispatched around 2:18 p.m. to Greylock Federal Credit Union on 150 West Street for a report of a woman impersonating another and attempting to cash a fraudulent check.
The officers arrested Brandi Graff, 44, of 21 Roadcap Lane in Halifax, Pa.
According to staff at the bank, Graff was using the ID of one of the victims in the Williams Street Shopping Plaza theft.
Graff was allegedly attempting to cash a check made out for $4,875, which belonged to one of the theft victims.
While law enforcement officers were interviewing an employee at Greylock Federal Credit Union, they learned that Graff previously attempted to cash fraudulent checks at bank branches at 2 Park Street in Adams and 5 Cheshire Road in Pittsfield. The Credit Union issued a “Be on the lookout” to all bank employees.
Graff was held on $500 cash bail which was posted on October 2. Graff has since defaulted, and there is now a warrant for her arrest.
“We live in a small, trusting community,” District Attorney Timothy Shugrue states in the press release. “In such a small county, many of us are familiar with the businesses we frequent and the places we routinely visit. Unfortunately, there are those who seek to exploit trusting communities like ours. I urge everyone to always lock their cars regardless of the location where they are parked.”
