Blotter: 2 Women Arrested in Panera Bread Thefts

BROOMALL–Two Philadelphia women were arrested on Oct. 12 for thefts that occurred at Panera Bread in the Lawrence Park Shopping Center. Marple police responded to Panera Bread after receiving information that the two women allegedly involved in the thefts were being followed by store employees.

Upon arrival, police received information from the restaurant manager that one woman was spotted dumping items behind Five Guys Burgers & Fries restaurant. Police were able to catch up with the woman, in which a restaurant employee was able to positively identify her as one of the women involved in the thefts earlier that day, according to the report.

The woman, a 52-year-old woman from Philadelphia, was arrested and charged with two counts of Theft By Unlawful Taking-Movable Property; two counts of Receiving Stolen Property; Conspiracy–Theft By Unlawful Taking-Movable Property; Conspiracy–Intentional Possession of a Controlled Substance by a Person Not Registered; and Criminal Attempt–Access Device Used To Obtain Or Attempt to Obtain Property/Service.

According to the report, another woman involved in the thefts was found inside a parked black sedan in the Wendy's parking lot. The woman, also identified by restaurant employees as one of the women involved in the thefts, is a 50-year-old woman also from Philadelphia.

The woman faces the following charges: two counts of Theft By Unlawful Taking-Movable Property; two counts of Receiving Stolen Property; Conspiracy–Theft By Unlawful Taking-Movable Property; and Conspiracy–Access Device Used To Obtain Or Attempt to Obtain Property/Service.

According to the incident report, both women were observed at Panera Bread earlier that day. The restaurant manager received a report from a patron of a stolen credit card during that time. The two women left the restaurant and returned sometime later to the same spot inside the restaurant again, according to the report.

The two women were seated behind a family at the restaurant at which time the store manager went over to the family and warned them of recent thefts that occurred in the restaurant earlier that day, according to the report. At this time, the two women immediately left the restaurant.

The 15-year-old girl with the family then reached for her clutch purse which was hanging on her chair and realized the purse was gone, according to the report. Police were able to recover the stolen purse in a nearby trash can about 25 yards away from the restaurant, according to the report.  

Upon further investigation, police discovered a small amount of marijuana and two different IDs that did not belong to either of the women inside one of the women's purses.

Both women were unable to post bail on Oct. 13 and remain in Delaware County Prison. Each bail was set at $20,000 with a 10 percent cash option by Magisterial District Judge Robert D'Agostino. A preliminary hearing has been continued to Oct. 29 for both women.