Hamden Woman Charged in Textbook Return Scam at Fairfield U Bookstore

[Editor's Note: Arrest information is supplied by the Fairfield Police Department. It does not indicate convictions.]

A Hamden woman was arrested Friday for her alleged involvement in a textbook return scam at the Fairfield University Bookstore.  

A manager at the Post Road bookstore reported to police in early March that two individuals had made fraudulent textbook returns on three separate occasions at the bookstore, department spokesperson Sgt. Sue Lussier said.  

Surveillance footage showed a male picking out books from the sales rack on the bookstore's second floor and handing them to a woman. The woman would then return the books to the cashier on the first floor, claiming they were buyback books she had used during the semester, and exchanged them for cash, Lussier said.  

The monetary loss to the bookstore totaled $1,001, according to Lussier.  

Investigators conducted a series of follow-ups and made contact with Larissa Arabolos-Choplick, 22, who detectives believe is the female suspect featured in the surveillance footage. The male suspect was not apprehended at the time of the report.  

Arabolos-Choplick, of Lakeview Avenue in Hamden, turned herself in at police headquarters on Friday after learning of a warrant for her arrest. She was charged with sixth-degree larceny and released on a written promise to appear in court on April 29.