Traverse City woman arrested after returning to banned CVS, hiding wine

A trespass ban at the CVS at 626 West Front St. in Traverse City did not stop Monique Megchiani from coming back, and police say the repeat visit turned a retail theft call into felony contraband charges at the jail. Megchiani, 48, of Traverse City, is facing two counts of retail fraud, one count of smuggling and one count of trespassing.

Traverse City police said Megchiani had already been barred from the store before the incidents in May. On May 9, police said she went into the CVS, stole wine and drank it in the store’s bathroom. She was then hospitalized for high intoxication and later discharged from Munson Medical Center.

Police said Megchiani returned to the same CVS on May 10 and allegedly took a bottle of Chardonnay. Employees stopped her again, but they could not find the bottle at the scene. The case escalated later during booking at the jail, when authorities said they found an unopened bottle of Cupcake Vineyards Pinot Grigio concealed inside her body.

The arrest shows how a trespass ban can function as a practical safety tool for downtown retailers. Once a customer has been told not to return, staff are no longer forced to negotiate a confrontation on the sales floor. Instead, the ban gives employees a clear basis to call police when the person comes back, which can matter on Front Street businesses that serve steady foot traffic from residents, workers and visitors alike.

The stakes are higher once an arrest reaches a correctional facility. Michigan law bars bringing alcoholic liquor into or onto a correctional facility, and the state’s sentencing guidelines treat bringing contraband into jail or prison as a felony offense. In Megchiani’s case, that turned a suspected shoplifting incident into a broader public-safety matter involving retail theft, intoxication, a repeat trespass and contraband at intake.