Mom and Daughter BOTH Steal from Target and Disappoint Grandma

Around 9:35 PM on November 30, 2025, Patrolman Marshall Bitsko with the Manalapan Township Police Department was dispatched to a report of a mother and daughter who were being detained for suspicion of shoplifting at the Target on 55 US Highway 9. He walked over to the Asset Protection office and made contact with the alleged shoplifter, who was identified as Jessica Derespino. The employees informed him that the woman and her daughter attempted to exit the store with $648.64 worth of stolen items, including about $207 worth of items that her daughter was concealing on her person. The stolen items were itemized in separate receipt printouts.

The same shoplifting duo had previously been caught on camera stealing about another $300 worth of merchandise from Target. However, the store did not press charges that time. Surveillance footage indicated that both the mother and daughter concealed items on their person inside the fitting rooms. The daughter went into the shopping cart, and the mother attempted to exit the Target store with her daughter riding in the cart.

Patrolman Abdoulaye Diagne arrived on scene to assist with the investigation. He called their Sergeant, and the officers initially planned to place both of them under arrest since the daughter attempted to steal over $200 worth of items. However, after reviewing the surveillance footage that confirmed that the mother was the one who actually pushed her daughter in the shopping cart past all points of sale with the concealed merchandise, they decided to combine the totals from both the thieving mother-daughter duo into a total of $648.64.

Jessica was informed that she was being placed under arrest for shoplifting, while the officers were exercising discretion in not arresting her daughter as well. Her daughter was released to the custody of another adult, while Jessica was handcuffed and placed inside the patrol car. Patrolman Bitsko transported her to the Manalapan Township Police Department for further processing. She was charged with shoplifting under 2C:20-11B(2) since the total value of stolen good exceeded $500. She was then released to her mother in the lobby pending her court appearance in the Monmouth County Superior Court.

Some of the stolen items were itemized as follows and the total value was determined to be $648.64:

4 Fine’ry - $29.99 ($119.96)

2 Wild Fable - $22 ($44)

1 Earrings - $55

1 Earrings – $50

1 Bracelet - $45

1 Necklace - $45

1 Anklet - $9.99

1 A New Day - $19.99

1 Coca-Cola - $12

1 Necklace - $25

1 Bracelet - $25

1 Health and Beauty - $19.98

2 EOS - $9.99 ($19.98)

2 EOS - $12.99 ($25.98)

1 Fine’ry - $14.99

3 Mini Glam $7.99 ($23.97)

3 EOS - $5 ($15)

1 Tree Hut - $9.99

1 NurtureMother’s - $3.99

1 Boots & Barkley - $10

1 Boots & Barkley - $17

Court records indicate that on March 5, 2022, Jessica had previously been arrested for shoplifting in Howell Township, New Jersey. She was granted a conditional dismissal on those charges on April 29, 2022 and those charges were ultimately dismissed on March 10, 2023. She also had to pay a total of $733 in fines as part of her plea agreement in that case.

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