Woman Charged With Stealing Two Handicapped Carts From S&S

A Fairfield woman, accused of stealing two handicapped carts from Super Stop & Shop on Villa Avenue and riding one of them to her home, was arrested on larceny charges.

Police said Christine Hobbs, 63, drove one of the battery-operated carts, valued at $3,000, out of the supermarket Saturday afternoon, but it died in the parking lot. She then went back and got another cart and drove it from the supermarket to her home on Division Avenue, which is about a mile away, police said.

Hobbs parked the cart in a secluded part of her property, police said.

The manager at Stop & Shop told police that the carts aren't supposed to be taken from inside the supermarket and are only for the convenience of handicapped shoppers, police said.

Police said officers found one of the carts in the supermarket parking lot's east side, by the Tunxis Hill bus stop. When officers went to Hobbs' home, she directed them to the second cart, which was parked in the back parking lot of the Clip Joint, a business behind her house, police said.

"She tried to tell officers that she had permission from the manager" to take the cart, said Police Sgt. Sue Lussier, a department spokesman.

Hobbs was charged with two counts of third-degree larceny and was released after posting $1,000 bond. She is scheduled to appear in Bridgeport Superior Court July 11, police said.

Police said the manager received a tip that Hobbs had taken a handicapped cart out of the supermarket.