By Jim Clark

Police were dispatched to the Home Depot store on Mystic Ave. last week on reports that a man who attempted to steal three air conditioners was threatening people in the store with a knife.

Upon arrival, officers were met by the store’s loss prevention officer who led them to the tool section where the suspect was.

The officers approached the man, Robert Scafidi, of Newton, who appeared to be unsteady on his feet, and asked if he had anything sharp on him, according to reports. Scafidi reportedly told them that he had a needle.

The officers searched Scafidi, who had been hanging onto a saw blade set, and reportedly found a pocketknife with a blade exceeding the legally allowed length in his pants pocket. A capped hypodermic needle and a couple of pills were also found in the same pocket, police said.

Police asked Scafidi what he was doing with three air conditioners and he reportedly replied that he intended to buy them. When asked how he intended to pay for them he said that his friend was going too make the purchase, according to reports. The officers asked Scafidi to identify his friend but he offered no response, police said. Scafidi was also asked if he had been waving a knife at people in the store and he reportedly denied doing so.

The store loss prevention officer reportedly told the officers that Scafidi had been spotted earlier acting suspiciously in the air conditioner department. He was observed placing the three air conditioners, a power washer and a pack of Powerade on a flatbed cart after which he proceeded to exit the store without paying for the items, according to the security officer’s statement.

Scafidi was stopped and questioned by loss prevention personnel and asked to provide a receipt for the items on the cart. He reportedly told them that his friend had purchased the items and that he was outside waiting in a rented van. Scafidi was allowed to go out to the parking lot to retrieve a receipt for the items in question, but the doors to the van were locked and he was unable to locate his friend. He then reportedly reentered the store and went to the tool department, where he began trying to open a packaged power drill with his pocketknife.

Police searched the parking lot for the van, but it was not found to be there.

Scafidi was placed under arrest and charged with violation of city ordinance possession of a dangerous weapon and larceny over $250.