NEW BETHLEHEM BOROUGH, Pa. (EYT) — Two New Bethlehem women who allegedly stole a basketball from a charity raffle display waived their preliminary hearings in court yesterday.
According to court documents, the following charges against 24-year-old Cassandra Irene Smith and 27-year-old Sarah Laurene Lowers, both of New Bethlehem, were waived for court on Tuesday, May 28:
– Theft by Unlawful Taking-Movable Property, Misdemeanor 3
– Receiving Stolen Property, Misdemeanor 3
The charges have been transferred to the Clarion County Court of Common Pleas.
Formal arraignments for both women are scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on July 31 with Judge James G. Arner presiding.
The charges stem from a theft that occurred around 2:07 p.m. on Friday, April 5, in New Bethlehem Borough.
According to a criminal complaint, Officer Airgood, of the New Bethlehem Borough Police Department, received a call around 3:55 p.m. on April 5 regarding a theft from a grocery store in New Bethlehem. A store employee reported that video surveillance clearly showed two white females, one with blond hair and one with brown hair, steal a basketball on display for a raffle for charity.
The video footage revealed the women, who were shopping with a small child, take the basketball out of the package and place it on the rack under their shopping cart before leaving the store, according to the complaint.
Sargeant Clark, of the New Bethlehem Police Department, was able to positively identify the women in the video as Cassandra Smith and Sarah Lowers.
Sargeant Clark interviewed the women on April 16.
According to the complaint, the women both confessed to taking the basketball, and Sargeant Clark was able to recover it; however, the complaint notes they had put both names on it, and the item is no longer suitable to be raffled.
On April 16, both women returned to the grocery store, and Smith “admitted to taking the ball and apologized for the incident,” the complaint indicates.
Charges were filed against both Lowers and Smith on Thursday, April 18.
