Retail theft ring busted at Target in Wilkes-Barre Township
WILKES-BARRE TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WOLF) — Wilkes-Barre Township Police arrested a woman after she was caught attempting to steal $759.98 worth of merchandise from Target.
Police arrested 50-year-old Patricia Martha Hamilton of Tobyhanna after Target Loss Prevention observed her actions.
Hamilton was not acting alone.
Police also named 24-year-old Aja Nay Tanaysha Watson of Tobyhanna, and 33-year-old Marissa Kimberly Turner of Jamaica, NY as co-conspirators.
Watson & Turner{ } | Photo credit: Wilkes-Barre Township Police
Together, the trio attempted to steal $1,500 worth of merchandise before fleeing the scene in a black Tesla Model 3 driven by Watson.
Police were able to locate and stop the Tesla as it fled from the Target store.
Hamilton, who has four prior retail theft convictions, was charged with a felony and arraigned with bail set at $5,000. She has been remanded to Luzerne County Jail, unable to secure bail.
Watson and Turner were detained alongside Hamilton but were later released. Target plans to pursue private prosecution against them.
Woman Arrested After Police Find $2,500 Worth of Stanley Cups in Her Car
By Evy Kwong
January 23, 2024, 11:35am
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Ok, what is going on with the Stanley Cup craze?
The hype over the tumblers has brought out hordes of people fighting over them at big box stores, but now, it’s risen to a whole new level—theft.
Police in Roseville, California, just north of Sacramento, have arrested and charged a 23-year-old woman with stealing nearly $2,500 worth of Stanley water bottles from a store after they recovered 65 tumblers, including the much-sought-after Quenchers, stashed in her car.
Police have not yet released her identity.
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“Staff saw a woman take a shopping cart full of Stanley water bottles without paying for them. The suspect refused to stop for staff and stuffed her car with the stolen merchandise,” according to the police statement posted to Facebook.
“While Stanley Quenchers are all the rage, we strongly advise against turning to crime to fulfill your hydration habits.”
The Stanley Quencher, made famous by TikTok influencers, retail for $45 on the brand’s official website. But special editions, like the Valentine’s Day Quencher, which saw crowds trampling over one another to get their hands on it at Target, go for nearly three times that on resale sites like StockX.
“We would have never thought people would be queuing for the cup—but if you combine it with the wider ‘#WaterTok’ trend seen on social media, the result is a viral, hit product in the making,” Rachel Makar, Senior Merchandising Director at StockX told Indy100.
Woman arrested after police found $2,500 worth of Stanley cups in her car
“While Stanley Quenchers are all the rage, we strongly advise against turning to crime to fulfill your hydration habits,” police said.
Some of the Stanley cups that were seized are arranged on the hood of a police car. Roseville, Calif., Police Department
Jan. 22, 2024, 6:55 PM GMT+7
The craze for Stanley stainless steel drinking cups reached new levels last week when a woman was arrested and accused of stealing 65 of them, worth almost $2,500, from a store in California.
Police in Roseville, in Placer County, northeast of Sacramento, said Sunday that they were called Wednesday to a report of a theft from a store on Stanford Ranch Road in the city.
“Staff saw a woman take a shopping cart full of Stanley water bottles without paying for them. The suspect refused to stop for staff and stuffed her car with the stolen merchandise,” police said in a statement on Facebook.
Stanley cup craze: Why all the frenzy over these colossal tumblers?
02:48
“An officer spotted the suspect vehicle as it entered Highway 65 from Galleria Blvd and initiated a traffic stop,” the statement said.
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The so-far unnamed woman, 23, of Sacramento, was arrested and accused of grand theft. Pictures released by police show her car trunk and passenger seat stuffed with a variety of cups.
Stanley cups have become highly sought items in recent months, thanks to a trend driven by social media influencers. The Quencher cup, which holds 40 fluid ounces and retails on the Stanley website at $45, has in particular become a fashionable item.
“While Stanley Quenchers are all the rage, we strongly advise against turning to crime to fulfill your hydration habits,” police said.
