File this one in the: “what were they thinking?!” category! Three women accused of stealing a $300 stroller from a New Jersey retail store were so focused on their crime that they fled the scene without remembering that one of their kids was still inside the store.
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That (very big) mistake is what police say helped them nab two of the three women. About six minutes after leaving the store, one of the three women returned to collect the child, according to local news station WLNY.
The alleged theft occurred at Bambi Baby, a family-owned baby gear retail store in Middletown, New Jersey. The store’s owner, Enelio Ortega, said they’ve dealt with shoplifting in the past, but they’ve never had an incident like this.
The alleged theft occurred earlier this month when the three women entered the store, kids and a stroller in tow. Two of the women began chatting up Justin, the store’s manager. In surveillance footage shared by Ortega, you can see the third woman over in a corner of the store struggling to collapse a stroller. When she finally gets the stroller to fold, she carries it out of the store, leaving her kid behind.
“I (noticed the stroller was gone), however, I didn’t want to jump to conclusions, so I definitely walked around the store first,” Justin told WABC. Once he realized the stroller was gone, he checked the store’s security cameras and saw what had happened.
He was about to call the police, when one of the women came back into the store to get the missing child. “And at that point after she had walked out, I said, ‘Hey, I’m pretty sure you guys stole my stroller. I’d like it back’,” Justin says. “And she just kind of ran off, and at that point I dialed 911.”
Ortega told WLNY that while he obviously doesn’t want thefts at his store, the more concerning issue is the women leaving the child behind.
“What I take major offense to is the children. Don’t do that with your children,” Ortega said. “If you need to steal for a living, that’s a personal problem, that’s a personal issue. But when you bring children that have no idea what’s going on, that affected me. That’s why I’m sharing [the video] as much as possible.”
Ironically, Ortega noted that the stroller the women stole, which retails for about $300, was right next to strollers retailing for over $1,000. And the particular brand of stroller the women took is actually a English brand and available in England, the women’s home, for much less.
Police have identified and arrested two of the women — 23-year-old Maryann Cash and 20-year-old Nan McCarthy — and charged them with shoplifting and conspiracy.
The police are asking anyone with information about the crime to contact authorities.
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