Salem Police Arrest Wakefield, MA Woman In Connection With Mall Thefts

SALEM, NH — A woman from Wakefield, Massachusetts was arrested last week and is accused of being part of a group linked to several retail thefts at The Mall at Rockingham Park, according to the Salem Police Department.

Rachel McKinney, 31, has been charged with five counts of willful concealment; theft over $1,000, a Class A felony, seven counts of willful concealment with two prior qualifying convictions, a Class B felony, and three counts of organized retail crime enterprise, a Class B felony, according to police.

McKinney was processed and released on personal recognizance bail and was scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Rockingham Superior Court, authorities said.

Police said they believe McKinney and two other women are connected to at least seven different thefts between January and June at the mall. The incidents involved more than $30,000 worth of merchandise being stolen from two clothing stores, the Salem PD said.

The department said it currently has an active arrest warrant for one of the other alleged participants.

Police also said the same group of women remain suspects in multiple thefts from clothing stores at malls in Manchester and Nashua and in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Those thefts include a known loss of merchandise of well over $200,000, authorities said.

The Salem PD said it began investigating the retail thefts at the Mall at Rockingham Park back in January.

According to authorities, the women wore masks during the thefts, which made identification difficult.

Detectives from the Salem PD worked with loss-prevention employees from the stores where the thefts occurred and other law enforcement partners on the investigation, according to the department.

Police said that detectives were able to identify one suspect by the clothing she wore during a Salem theft. The suspect, later identified as McKinney, is believed to have been present at all seven known thefts in Salem, according to detectives.

After obtaining a search warrant and collecting evidence, Salem PD detectives were able to develop probable cause to arrest McKinney, the department said.

McKinney was taken into custody last Wednesday, according to police.