Connecticut
Christmas Tree Shops gift cards expire July 21, CT officials urge consumers to use them before then
Connecticut customers who have unused gift cards to the Christmas Tree shop have until July 21 to use their cards ahead of the stores’ impending closures, state officials said.
The state Department of Consumer Protection and Connecticut Attorney General William Tong on Friday advised shoppers to use their gift cards before July 21, when the stores will stop accepting gift cards. The retailer recently announced that they are closing all stores nationwide, including shops in Danbury, Manchester, Orange and Waterford.
“With all Christmas Tree Shops set to close, time is running out to use gift cards and to make final returns,” said Tong in a statement. “Consumers should act quickly and get their money’s worth now, especially since you should not necessarily expect to receive a refund or any other compensation from the store.”
Christmas Tree Shops filed for bankruptcy in May, recently defaulted on its loan and announced liquidation of all 70 of its remaining stores, officials said.
“When companies close, the time consumers have to use gift cards can be unpredictable,” said DCP Commissioner Bryan T. Cafferelli said in a statement Friday. “Consumers now only have two weeks to use their gift cards at Christmas Tree Shops.”
Cafferelli also said consumers should use gift cards in a timely manner since store closures can be unpredictable.
“This is a good reminder to use gift cards to any business soon after receiving them,” he said in the statement. “While gift cards do not expire in Connecticut, sudden store closings and bankruptcies may prevent consumers from using gift cards.”
Shoppers can check the balance on their gift cards for the Christmas Tree Shop on the store’s website using the car number and pin.
Consumers can contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Assistance Unit at 860-808-5240 or the Department of Consumer Protection at dcp.complaints@ct.gov with any questions.
Connecticut
Tractor-trailer carrying thousands of gallons of fuel catches fire on I-91 in Wethersfield
A tractor-trailer hauling thousands of gallons of fuel caught fire on Interstate 91 North in Wethersfield on Friday morning.
State police said state troopers responded to I-91 North near exit 24 around 7:42 a.m. and found the cab of a tractor- trailer carrying 7,500 gallons of fuel on fire.
The driver was able to get out of the truck and was not injured, according to state police.
The fire departments from Wethersfield and Rocky Hill responded to the scene to extinguish the fire and troopers shut down I-91 North and South as well as oncoming traffic from Route 3 to I-91 South.
Because the truck was hauling fuel, troopers worked to move drivers who were nearby, state police said.
I-91 South reopened shortly after the fire was out.
The left two lanes of I-91 North have been reopened and the state police Fire & Explosives Investigation Unit is also responding to assist with the investigation.
State police said the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection later responded to the scene.
Connecticut
Connecticut couple charged in alleged Lululemon theft spree that netted up to $1 million
A Connecticut couple has been charged in connection with an elaborate two-month theft spree at Lululemon stores across the country that an investigator with the retailer estimates netted about $1 million worth of product.
Jadion Richards, 44, and Akwele Lawes-Richards, 45, were arrested on Nov. 14 in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota suburb of Woodbury. The couple, from Danbury, Connecticut, were charged with organized retail theft after a Lululemon retail crime investigator contacted local authorities in Minnesota.
But Lululemon’s investigator said evidence shows their crimes go back to September and took place in states like Utah, Colorado, New York and Connecticut, according to the criminal complaint.
Attorneys representing Richards and Lawes-Richards did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment Thursday.
Richards claimed he was racially profiled, complaint says
Richards and Lawes-Richards were stopped after exiting the Lululemon store in Roseville, Minnesota, on Nov. 14 when the security alarm went off, according to the criminal complaint. Richards allegedly claimed store employees racially profiled him and the two were allowed to leave afterward.
The Lululemon investigator later alleged the two visited the store the day before on Nov. 13 with an unidentified man and stole 45 item valued at nearly $5,000. That same day, the pair had allegedly conducted four other thefts in Minneapolis, Edina and Minnetonka.
Officers arrested the couple at the Lululemon in Woodbury. The two denied any involvement in the theft, with Lawes-Richards allegedly claiming they were staying with her aunt and had only been in Minnesota for a day.
Officers found several credit and debit cards on the couple, as well as an access card to a Marriott hotel room. Using a search warrant, officers found 12 suitcases in their room, including three filled with Lululemon clothing with tags attached worth over $50,000, according to the complaint.
In all, the company investigator estimated the couple has taken up to $1 million in stolen product, according to the complaint, which does not detail how he arrived at the high figure.
Couple blocked cameras among other tactics: Investigator
The Lululemon investigator said one of the couple’s alleged tactics was for one of them to distract associates while another stuffed product in the clothes they were wearing, according to the complaint.
Another technique involved the two strategically exiting the store, with one of them holding a cheap item they had bought and the other carrying more expensive products that had sensors, according to the complaint. When the alarm would sound off, only the person with the cheap, purchased item would stay behind and show a receipt, while the other would keep walking with the stolen product, the complaint says.
The pair are accused in eight Colorado theft incidents between Oct. 29 and 30, and seven thefts in Utah on Nov. 6 and 7, according to the complaint.
The pair are currently being held at the Ramsey County jail in Minnesota, court records show. Their next court appearance is set for Dec. 16.
Connecticut
Connecticut readers get the shaft from newspaper’s vulgar Jets headline blunder
Ouch!
A newspaper in Connecticut had an unfortunate typo involving Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley’s herniated disc on Monday.
This past Monday, The Chronicle, a newspaper covering Eastern Connecticut, published an AP story on the front page of its sports section in the print edition that referred to Mosley’s “herniated d–k.”
Mosley has missed the Jets’ four games with the injury — the one in his neck, that is.
In the copy, Mosley’s injury was not shafted, getting described correctly in the nut graph.
The unfortunate phallacy did not go unnoticed: in an extra twist, the error went viral when it was posted on the X account of David Coverdale, the 73-year-old singer of Whitesnake.
An editor for The Chronicle told The Post that the newspaper would be issuing a correction in the paper.
Last week, prior to the Jets’ loss to the Colts, Mosley spoke about how he hoped to return after the Jets’ bye, when they host the Seahawks on Dec. 1.
“That’s definitely the goal,” he said. “I’m in a position where I’ve played a lot of football. Me missing this time won’t hurt me as much as another guy that might need this opportunity. It’s about safety at the end of the day. When I go home, I’m Clint Mosley. I’m C.J. I’m not the football player.”
Mosley said the birth of his daughter, who arrived the week after his injury, put things in perspective for him.
“I had a full week of having a normal neck and ever since then every time I’m looking down, my neck’s hurting,” Mosley said. “It puts things in perspective. There’s a lot of life after football. When I’m done playing, I want to make sure I’m 100 percent.”
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