Blotter: Duo Swipe 9 Cartons of Cigarettes at 7-Eleven

BROOMALL–On Jan. 5 at approximately 3:50 p.m., Marple police responded to 7-Eleven on Springfield Road for a reported theft of cigarettes.

Police were able to review the store surveillance video which showed a black or dark blue older model of a Ford Explorer pull into the parking lot at around 3:34 p.m. The vehicle pulled in from Latches Lane and drove across the front of the store and backed in against the front of the store next to a handicap parking space, according to the report.

A man and woman from the vehicle then entered the store at around 3:36 p.m. According to a 7-Eleven employee, the man asked to use the bathroom to which the employee directed him to the back stock room where the bathroom was located.

The man then enters the stock room and proceeds to watch the store clerk as he interacts with the woman who is asking questions and selecting a doughnut from the doughnut case, according to the report. The store clerk had accepted $0.85 payment from the woman for a $1 doughnut.

According to the report, the man then removes nine cartons of Newport cigarettes (a total value of $593.10) in the stock room from a locked shelf by pulling the doors open and removing the cartons through the top.

At one point, the man moves a step ladder over to help remove the cartons and is caught on the step ladder by the store employee when he enters the stock room to check on him, according to the report.

According the report, the man had concealed the cartons of cigarettes in his coat and "baggy pants." At around 3:39 p.m., the pair leave the store and the store employee reports seeing the vehicle leave the parking lot on Springfield Road towards West Chester Pike/Route 3.