By Ken Valenti

WESTPORT–Shoplifting is an ever-present headache in communities all over. But Ulta Beauty, the beauty product and salon services store at 1365 Post Road East keeps the Westport police especially busy. It has had 18 thefts this year, with thieves sometimes taking more than $1,000 or even $2,000 in merchandise, according to Westport Police.

Last year, 16 thefts were reported.

But committing the theft is one thing; getting away with it is another. Westport police have arrested at least 10 suspects this year, several of whom are due in court in January.

“The Westport Ulta location accounts for the most criminal arrests made by this agency that are associated with a single retail establishment doing business in town,” said Lieutenant Anthony Prezioso, spokesman for the Westport Police Department.

The store is the victim both of individual thefts, and of theft rings, based on the department’s investigations, intelligence shared with other law-enforcement agencies and information from Ulta’s loss prevention division, Prezioso said.

“Our patrol and detective divisions have worked closely with Ulta’s corporate loss prevention to not only help identify suspects in these cases, but also to make recommendations and to implement measures to deter these crimes,” Prezioso said. He declined to discuss details to avoid undermining the measures.

Ulta Beauty had no comment for this article. A woman at the Westport location referred calls to the chain’s headquarters in Bolingbrook, Illinois. An employee there referred all questions to the company’s website.

Among the alleged shoplifters are:

Anita Felix of Norwalk, who was arrested in August and with fifth-degree larceny for a theft that had occurred more than a year and a half earlier, on Dec. 8, 2023. The cosmetic store’s staff told police that a customer had “filled a shopping basket with various products from the store including cosmetics, fragrances and styling tools,” and had hopped into a waiting getaway vehicle, police said in an announcement. Felix, who was 30 at the time of her arrest, is out on $10,000 bail. She is next due in Superior Court in Stamford on Jan. 28, 2026.

Last month, Peggy Inesti of Springfield, Mass., turned herself in to the Westport Police Department to face charges that she stole $1,726 worth of merchandise from the store on Sept. 6. Store staff did not notice the theft until Nov. 3 when store management reviewed security tape and spotted a thief dumping items into a tote bag and leaving while an accomplice created a disturbance. Inesti, who was 43 upon arrest, is out on $50,000 bond and is next due in Superior Court in Stamford on Jan. 22, 2026.

Diomede Rodriguez-Flores of Manhattan was arrested with three alleged accomplices, Jose Escorche, Freycker Uviedo-Fernandez and Nestor Daboin-Rosales, on Oct. 8.  All were in their 20s, except for Uviedo-Fernandez, who was 19. Rodriguez-Flores was charged with sixth-degree larceny and the others were charged with sixth-degree conspiracy to commit larceny.

All four were due in Superior Court in Stamford on Dec. 18. But court records show that rearrest orders were issued that day for Rodriguez-Flores, Escorche and Uviedo-Fernandez. No further information is available on Deboin-Rosales.

Giorgi Lukhutashvili, 41, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was arrested April 2 and accused of taking $2,700 in merchandise from Ulta Beauty and driving off. Lukhutashvili, who was 41 upon arrest, was charged with third-degree larceny in connection with the incident. He was out on $25,000 bail but did not show up to court on June 30. His rearrest was ordered Sept. 18, court records show.

Ken Valenti

^{_{A career journalist and lifelong resident of the New York City region, Ken Valenti has enjoyed decades of reporting local, regional and national news in New York and Connecticut. Topics of special interest are development, the environment, Long Island Sound and transportation. When not reporting, he’s always on the lookout for the perfect coffee shop or used book sale.}}