Crime & Safety

Police Blotter: Burglary at Pizza Shop, Man Held at Gunpoint, Retail Theft, Thefts From Cars

The following information has been supplied by the Marple Police Department. If arrests or charges are mentioned, they do not indicate guilt or a conviction.

Theft From Gym Bags at O'Hara

On Feb. 1 at approximately 5:40 p.m., received a report of a theft from Cardinal O’Hara school. A student came into the police station to report that he had left his gym bag sitting in the hallway at school while he was at track practice, according to the incident report. According to the report, the student returned to the bag after practice to discover it was open and his Texas Instruments IT-84 Plus missing. The student reported that several other students were missing items from their gym bag as well.

On Feb. 1 at approximately 8:40 p.m., a student from Cardinal O’Hara’s track team reported that on Jan. 31 at around 3 p.m., he and five other members of the track team had items stolen from their unsecured bags. He reported two calculators–TI-nspire (valued at approximately $125) and TI-30XIIS (valued at approximately $25) and a Pantech Laser cell phone.

On Jan. 31 at approximately 7 p.m., a student from Cardinal O’Hara reported a theft from his gym back and several of his team members’ gym bags while at track practice. According to the report, the student was able to track the phone, which appeared to be moving around Foster Avenue and High Street. Police are further investigating this incident.

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Over $800 Fraudulent Charges Made at MA Gas Stations

On Jan. 31 at approximately 3:33 p.m., a resident came in to Marple Police Station to report a fraudulent incident regarding his Visa card. According to the report, someone had made charges on his card during the month of January—all at gas stations in Springfield, MA. The man told police that he did not lose his card and believed someone had his information. According to police, there was a total of $860.04 charged on his card at Pride Station from Jan. 4 to Jan. 25–all of which were $100 charges–and at Gulf Oil on Jan. 27 for $60.25.

Leather Briefcase Stolen From Car

On Jan. 31 at approximately 7:25 p.m., police received an incident report of a theft from a vehicle. The vehicle owner informed police that his leather briefcase was missing from his vehicle. According to the report, the man noticed the missing briefcase on Jan. 26 but waited a few days to make sure he hadn’t just misplaced it. The man told police the briefcase was either taken from the Lawrence Park Shopping Center parking lot or while the vehicle was parked at a residence on the 200 block of Arden Road. According to the report, the man said his vehicle was left unlocked in front of the residence but locked at the shopping center parking lot. Police are further investigating this incident.

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Copper, Scrap Stolen From Garage

On Jan. 30, police responded to the 2200 block of Dickens Lane for a reported theft. Upon arrival, police spoke with the homeowner who told police that he rents space at a garage on Woodlawn Avenue. Sometime overnight, someone had removed some scrap copper and aluminum that he had outside the garage. According tot he report, the copper was in a five-gallon bucket and someone had removed the copper and left the bucket behind. According to the report, the aluminum cans were in trash bags. The total value of the items taken were approximately between $150 to $200.

Coach Wristlet and Three Different Prescriptions Stolen From Car

On Jan. 30 at approximately 3:51 p.m., police received a report of a theft from a vehicle. The vehicle owner told police that sometime between 2 p.m. on Jan. 29 and 8 a.m. on Jan. 30, someone had entered unlocked Ford Focus and taken her Coach wristlet, which contained three prescriptions. According to the report, the prescriptions were for Travadone, Aadderal and Alprazolam. The woman told police her father had moved the vehicle and left the car unlocked overnight. She also reported that someone has stolen gas from her car tank three times in the past year. Police are further investigating this incident.

Walmart Employee Involved in Stealing $1,500 From Store

On Jan. 27 at approximately 3:34 p.m., police received a theft report from at the Marple Crossroads Shopping Center. A loss prevention manager at the store discovered a shortage of $1,500 from registers that occurred on Jan. 22, according to the report. The manager was able to investigate and provide information for a possible suspect, in which the investigation was then turned over to the regional loss prevention manager. The suspected female was interviewed by the regional loss prevention manager, in which she admitted to the theft and stated that there were two additional employees involved. The woman told police that she only received $240 from the $1,500 that was taken. Police and Walmart are further investigating this incident.

$251 Worth of Baby Formula Stolen

On Jan. 28 at approximately 1:42 p.m., police responded to the for a reported theft. Upon arrival, police spoke with the manager who stated that at approximately 12:18 p.m. that day, a woman had entered the store carrying a large flat purse, proceeded directly into the aisle containing baby formula, and began to shove items, marked for sale, inside her purse, according to the report. Within approximately three minutes, the woman exited the store without paying for any merchandise. The total value of items taken was approximately $251. The store manager also told police that this type of theft had taken place twice in the last month, creating an additional shortage of approximately $260. Police are further investigating this incident.

Woman Totes Along Three Kids While Shoplifting

On Jan. 28, police responded to in the Marple Crossroads Shopping Center for a reported theft. Upon arrival, police spoke with the loss prevention officers, who told police that they had observed a woman select merchandise off the shelves, put it in her bag and then exit the store without paying for it. According to the report, the woman had previously purchased some other merchandise and then said she was going to put more merchandise on layaway. The total value of items taken was $31.97. The woman had three kids with her in the store during the time of the incident. Police cited her for retail theft.

Object Thrown at Resident's Window

On Jan. 28 at approximately 7 p.m., police responded to the 2200 block of Clover Lane for a reported criminal mischief incident. According to the report, a juvenile was reported for throwing something at the complainant’s front window but no damage was observed to the window. However, there was damage to an outdoor lighting fixture. The value of the light fixture was approximately $30. The juvenile was last seen running across Clover Lane into the rear yard towards Russell School.

Walmart Employee Attempts to Take 2 iPads

On Jan. 26 at approximately 6:45 p.m., police received a theft report from Walmart. The loss prevention officer at the store identified Kyohn Stewart select two iPads from his returns cart and witness his concealing the merchandise into his backpack in the furniture department on Dec. 16 at approximately 4:14 p.m. According to the report, Stewart then attempted to exit the store past all points of sale. The loss prevention officer was able to recover the two iPads from his backpack. Stewart was arrested and charged with theft.

Man Steals Penn State Shirt and Socks, Attempts to Flee

On Jan. 26, police responded to Marshalls for a reported theft. Upon arrival, police found Michael McMenamin, of Springfield, in custody in the store’s loss prevention office. According to police, the store officer observed McMenamin entered the store and proceeded to the men’s department where he selected a Penn State shirt valued at $12.99 and a pair of socks valued at $7. According to the report, McMenamin concealed the shirt in his coat sleeve and the socks in his pant’s pocket. He stopped at the cash registers and paid for a shirt, but made no attempt to pay for the concealed merchandise, which had a total value of $19.99, according to the report. When McMenamin had attempted to leave the store, he was confronted by the loss prevention officer and another store employee. McMenamin then pushed the store officer and knocked the sliding exit door off its track during his struggle to get away. The store officer was able to stop McMenamin from leaving and the stolen merchandise was recovered. According to the report, McMenamin has a prior summary conviction from 2008 for summary retail theft. McMenamin was arrested and charged, and a criminal complaint was filed with District Court #32-1-27.

Two Women Involved in Marshalls Retail Theft, One Attempts to Flee

On Jan. 24 at approximately 3:21 p.m., police responded to Marshalls for a reported theft. According to the report, Briana Hall, 23, and Erin Jones, 19, were observed entering the store and concealing multiple items, marked for sale, into a large green purse. Upon arrival, police spoke with the loss prevention officer outside, who told police that both women were  headed towards the store’s exit and did not pay for any of the concealed items. Within a few minutes, both women exited the store with Hall carrying a large bulky purse. When police advised both women to stop, Jones complied but Hall attempted flee from the store. Police were able to catch Hall in the parking lot and advised her to place her hands on the vehicle at which time she again, attempted to flee, and had to be held up against the vehicle until another officer arrived to the scene, according to the report. While being placed into handcuffs, Hall continued to resist.  As Hall was being walked to a Marple police patrol vehicle, she began to slide her wrists out of her handcuffs, according to the report. Both women were arrested and transported back to Marple Police Station. Both were arrested and charged for retail theft.

Solicitor Reported on S. Central Blvd. Claiming to Work for Power Home Remodeling Group

On Jan. 24 at approximately 6:42 p.m., police responded to the 500 block of South Central Boulevard for a reported suspicious person. According to the report, a solicitor was in the area selling home remodeling work for Power Home Remodeling Group. The caller described the solicitor as a tall, thin, black male wearing a black coat, a knit hat and carrying a clipboard. The caller told police that he was last seen walking on South Central Boulevard towards Polk Way. Police were able to find the man matching the description and asked what he was doing in which he told police that he was out working for Power Home Remodeling Group and that he just finished. When asked for a permit, he stated that he didn’t have one. Police advised him that it is required to have one and to have it displayed in plain view. The man was cited for violation of the township solicitor’s ordinance.

Man Reportedly Held at Gunpoint in XBox Exchange Sale

On Jan. 23, police received a report of an incident that had occurred at the on Jan. 19. According to the report, the woman told police that her 21-year-old son’s friend was placed at gunpoint by two unidentified individuals on that afternoon in the Wawa parking lot. According to the woman, her son’s friend was attempting to sell an Xbox system for $200 in which her son set his friend with a thid-party. When his friend arrived to sell the Xbox system, the other third-party was in a mini van with two other subjects, according to the report, who then told the man to get in the van as to not make the sale “public.” Accoring to the report, at this point, the man selling the Xbox was placed at gunpoint by the two unidentified individuals in the van. According to the report, the individuals took $400 as well as the Xbox and advised the man to get out of the van. Police are further investigating this incident.

Both Right-Side Tires Slashed at Home

On Jan. 23 at approximately 12 p.m., police responded to the 200 block of Bourne Drive for a criminal mischief incident. Upon arrival, police met the homeowner who told police that both his right-side tires on his 2001 Dodge Ram were slashed.

Burglary at Cascata Gourmet Pizza

On Jan. 22 at approximately 7:28 a.m., police received a report of a burglary discovered from a Dunkin Donuts customer who saw the front door of Cascata Gourmet Pizza on Sproul Road in Springfield smashed out. Upon arrival, police observed the exterior glass door was smashed and the glass covered the foyer floor. According to the report, the interior lobby door was found unlocked, and the register open with the drawer on the counter with change but no bills. In addition, some cash payments for employees were in the register below of the cash drawer which were also taken, according to the report. The owner told police that the register contained $300 in startup cash and change. The rest of the restaurant appeared to be untouched, said police. According to the report, the owner told police that he had an additional $200 in cash and coins in a bank box on a shelf above the register that was entirely missing. The total approximate value taken was $871. Police are further investigating this incident.

Purse, iPod, Wallet Taken From Car

On Jan. 21, police received a report of a theft from a vehicle that occurred sometime overnight on Jan. 19. According to the report her purse was reported taken from her unlocked vehicle that was parked in her driveway. The purse was described as a black and white Vera Bradley bag. Within the bag contained her personal checkbook, a book of her online passwords, a wallet, a small change purse and her iPod. The wallet also contained a couple of credit cards.  Police are further investigating this incident.

$6,000 Salt Spreader Stolen Off of Truck

On Jan. 20 at approximately 5:06 p.m., police received a report of a theft from a vehicle that occurred sometime that Wednesday at about 4 p.m. A large Saltex salt spreader was stolen from the rear of the complainant’s truck parked in the upper lot at the . According to the report, the interior of the dashboard was dismantled and the right-side mirror was damaged in the process. The approximate value of the salt spreader is $6,000.

Video Camera, Car Charger Stolen From Vehicle

On Jan. 19 at approximately 12:30 p.m., police received a report for a theft from a vehicle on the unit block of Lincoln Lane. According to the report, the homeowner reported that he discovered his mini CD video camera was missing from the center console of his Jeep Cherokee and a charger for his DVD player was missing from the vehicle. According to the report, the vehicle was left unlocked in his driveway. The approximate value of the video camera was $250 and the car charger had an approximate value of $15. Police are further investigating this incident.


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