Pennsylvania State Police are looking for someone who has stolen several items from an antique and thrift store in Westmoreland County. Dealers at L&L Fleatique in Hempfield Township saw a woman holding two big bags walking around the store. They assumed she was going to pay for them. She then walked out the door and never came back. “Everything happened so fast,” said Ellie Christopher, a dealer at the store. “It was really shocking. The owner had gone upstairs to shut the lights off. We close at 5. The person in question came down and was on the phone.”Christopher was sitting at the register. She wasn’t paying attention to the girl with the bags. She was helping another customer.”There was another staff member who had helped another lady,” Christopher said. “The girl came up with a purchase that she wasn’t going to take today. She was going to pick it up tomorrow morning.”That girl then left. The one with the bags wasn’t far behind.”Three to four minutes after the first lady exited the side door, this girl goes on after her,” Christopher said. “We assumed she was waiting for her boyfriend, husband, to bring her money, or a credit card, or something like that.”According to Christopher, the woman had told some of the upstairs staff that she was going to meet someone outside to get her form of payment. A car arrived in front of the store a few minutes before 5 p.m. on Wednesday. ” jumped in the car and they tore off that way toward Pennsylvania Avenue,” Christopher said. “They ran after her and said, ‘Hey, the purses!’ The owner was shutting off the lights. He was unaware. He said, ‘Oh my god.'”Christopher believes the person had stolen items that totaled around $500 in value. That night, she heard from a friend who works for a nearby outlet store. They told her that two people had come in and taken things from their store as well. “I am convinced that the other person that we were saving an item for for the next day was in on it,” Christopher said. “I’m convinced. I’m not getting those items back.”L&L is considering enhancing security to ensure that this doesn’t happen again. “We’re talking about it,” Christopher said. “We’re going to figure something out.”In the meantime, state police try to identify who’s behind the theft. “It’s just a sad situation,” Christopher said. “There are over 160 dealers here. We’re all on our own. I just don’t want it to happen to any of the other dealers or antique and thrift stores in the Westmoreland area. I just want her to know that what she did was not cool.”Download the WTAE app to stay connected with breaking news. Sign up for our email newsletters to get breaking news in your inbox.
HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. —
Pennsylvania State Police are looking for someone who has stolen several items from an antique and thrift store in Westmoreland County.
Dealers at L&L Fleatique in Hempfield Township saw a woman holding two big bags walking around the store. They assumed she was going to pay for them.
She then walked out the door and never came back.
“Everything happened so fast,” said Ellie Christopher, a dealer at the store. “It was really shocking. The owner had gone upstairs to shut the lights off. We close at 5. The person in question came down and was on the phone.”
Christopher was sitting at the register. She wasn’t paying attention to the girl with the bags. She was helping another customer.
“There was another staff member who had helped another lady,” Christopher said. “The girl came up with a purchase that she wasn’t going to take today. She was going to pick it up tomorrow morning.”
That girl then left. The one with the bags wasn’t far behind.
“Three to four minutes after the first lady exited the side door, this girl goes on after her,” Christopher said. “We assumed she was waiting for her boyfriend, husband, to bring her money, or a credit card, or something like that.”
According to Christopher, the woman had told some of the upstairs staff that she was going to meet someone outside to get her form of payment.
A car arrived in front of the store a few minutes before 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
“[She] jumped in the car and they tore off that way toward Pennsylvania Avenue,” Christopher said. “They ran after her and said, ‘Hey, the purses!’ The owner was shutting off the lights. He was unaware. He said, ‘Oh my god.'”
Christopher believes the person had stolen items that totaled around $500 in value.
That night, she heard from a friend who works for a nearby outlet store. They told her that two people had come in and taken things from their store as well.
“I am convinced that the other person that we were saving an item for for the next day was in on it,” Christopher said. “I’m convinced. I’m not getting those items back.”
L&L is considering enhancing security to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.
“We’re talking about it,” Christopher said. “We’re going to figure something out.”
In the meantime, state police try to identify who’s behind the theft.
“It’s just a sad situation,” Christopher said. “There are over 160 dealers here. We’re all on our own. I just don’t want it to happen to any of the other dealers or antique and thrift stores in the Westmoreland area. I just want her to know that what she did was not cool.”
Download the WTAE app to stay connected with breaking news. Sign up for our email newsletters to get breaking news in your inbox.