Four Arrested in Connection With Security Breach at Stop & Shop

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Four people were arrested in connection with the thefts of credit and debit information from at least two Stop & Shop stores, according to an Associated Press report yesterday. They were arrested Monday night in the parking lot of the supermarket chain's Coventry, R.I., store after employees noticed their resemblance to photos of those wanted in the thefts of customer data, said Faith Weiner, a spokeswoman for Stop & Shop, Quincy, Mass. The prior thefts at the Coventry and Cranston, R.I., stores occurred after tampering with the checkout lane PIN keypads. Stop & Shop said it also discovered similar tampering at four other stores -- in Bristol, Providence and Warwick, R.I., and in Seekonk, Mass. Following the discovery of tampering, PIN pads at all 580-plus Stop & Shop and Giant of Landover, Md., stores were secured with a bolt so that they can‘t be removed from the POS. Both retailers are part of Ahold USA.