‘I’m Not Playing’: Man Threatens Willimantic Staples Workers Over Denied Return, Police Say

The Windham County incident happened in Willimantic, at the Staples store on Storrs Road.

Connecticut State Police said a store supervisor contacted the agency on Thursday, April 11, after discovering a concerning post from a customer on the social media platform, X.

In the post, which was directed at Staples corporate, the customer said they wanted their money in the next two days “or the managers of the Willimantic CT Staples better Google ‘Family Guy Stewie where’s my money.'"

In the scene referenced, a character in the animated series viciously beats another while repeatedly asking where their money is.

The customer concluded the first post by saying, “I’m not playing.”

In a second post, they again alluded to violence against a specific employee that would happen “in my basement.”

Investigators used the order number mentioned in the X post to identify the customer as 42-year-old Jeremy Basset, of Chaplin.

Basset had come to the store two days earlier attempting to return an iPad keyboard, valued at $800, employees told police. He reportedly became upset when they told him that, since the item was purchased online, it could not be returned in the store.

Writing in a police report, the employee who was mentioned in the threats said she was “a little freaked out” when they discovered the post on X.

“I’m not overwhelmingly panicked, but at the same time I am freaked out about the situation. A little nervous and scared,” she wrote.

At the request of Staples, troopers delivered a formal trespass letter to Basset at his Chaplin residence. He reportedly admitted to “letting off some steam,” but acknowledged that his post on X might have gone too far.

Approximately 90 minutes after troopers delivered the trespass letter, the victim contacted police saying that Basset had gone to her LinkedIn profile and posted the following:

“Your (sic) off to a terrible start. Misrepresenting yourself to the State Police as a Staples Legal Department Representative and fabricating incidents at Staples stores to get No Trespassing orders granted.”

Basset was arrested Friday, May 10, on suspicion of making physical threats and breaching the peace.

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