City Man Caught Stealing Power Drill In Home Depot Theft

A New York City man was arrested Tuesday night after trying to lift an expensive drill from Home Depot, Port Chester police said.

Hoti Dritan, 30, picked up the $780 Bosch drill and walked toward the back of the store at 9:52 p.m., a few minutes before closing time. Confident he was unseen, Dritan removed the drill from the box and returned the empty box to its original shelf, Lt. James Ladeairous said.

Dritan picked up a bathroom vanity box in another aisle, then returned to his hiding place in the rear of the store, where he removed the vanity from the box and replaced it with the drill. That's when Dritan made his way to a self check-out and scanned the vanity, which at $50 was a $730, self-granted discount on the expensive power drill.

As he went to leave the Midland Avenue store, Dritan was detained by security, who called police, Ladeairous said. Dritan, of 426 E. 66 Street, was charged with petty larceny, a misdemeanor. He was arraigned, and is due back in court this morning for his second hearing.