Stay-away orders issued against 73 individuals charged with larceny of stores in South Bay Mall

BOSTON — Prosecutors for Suffolk County have issued stay-away orders to 73 individuals charged with larceny and other related offenses of stores within South Bay Mall.

This comes as a part of a multi-partner initiative to target store-based crimes after 116 defendants were charged with shoplifting, larceny, and other offenses at numerous South Bay Mall stores and arraigned from September through December of last year.

In 2024, the Safe Shopping initiative was launched to increase consumer safety and help store owners and managers combat shoplifting and retail larcenies.

“Our overarching goal with this initiative is to make shopping spaces safe for consumers and workers and to help prevent any more store closures, which we know have a dramatic impact on residents, particularly our older residents.  But that doesn’t mean seeking incarceration for every offender.  In many cases, the effective path is to address the underlying reason for the conduct, which is very often addiction disorders,” District Attorney Kevin Hayden said.

One of the individuals that Hayden’s office ordered a stay-order to was 39-year-old Kevin Whyte of Taunton. Whyte was arraigned with 11 outstanding warrants for shoplifting offenses at the South Bay.

45 cases were disposed of in December, 16 of them included drug treatment as part of their sentencing, 8 resulted in incarceration, and 31 had their stay-away orders remain in effect.

“We and our initiative partners are concerned about all retail areas of the city but the troubling incidents at South Bay in the past made it an area of particular focus. Like so many efforts that yield positive results, communication and partnership among all affected groups are the crucial components,” Hayden said.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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