Thong thief sent to the can

NORRISTOWN >> A 53-year-old admitted thong thief with a long history of retail larceny has been sentenced to jail time for stealing the ladies’ undergarments from a Hatfield department store in October.

John Henry Sarau, of the 2800 block of Hill Road — who also goes by the aliases “Robert Lund,” “Sammy Velasquez” and “Lisa Collins,” according to court records — appeared in Montgomery County court and pleaded guilty to third-degree retail theft in connection with the Oct. 9 incident at the Kohl’s store on the 2300 block of Welsh Road, as well as a thirddegree felony retail theft charge in another unrelated case.

Montgomery County Judge William R. Car-

penter sentenced Sarau to one to two years of incarceration and ordered him

to pay nearly $500 in restitution to Kohl’s for the thongs and other items he stole, records show.

Prosecutors dropped a third-degree felony receiving stolen property charge as part of Sarau’s plea deal.

According to a criminal complaint filed in the case, a Kohl’s loss prevention employee reported to Hatfield police that a retail theft had occurred on Oct. 9 in which a man exited the store with two stolen duffel bags filled with merchandise that had also been stolen, and that he got into a Dodge pickup truck and drove off.

The Kohl’s employee said that the suspect took eight pairs of Maidenform

thong underwear, as well as a pair of Nike shoes, four bath towels, slippers, and other items, then went to the luggage section of the store, selected two duffel bags, stuffed all the stolen items in the bags, and left the store, according to the complaint, which indicated the total price of the stolen items was $482.91.

The employee was able to get a partial license plate of the pickup truck, according to police.

During the subsequent investigation, police were able to determine the full license plate of the vehicle, then matched Sarau with the person seen on Kohl’s surveillance video stealing the items, according to the

complaint.

Police said that Sarau had previously been convicted of retail theft in cases in Hatfield, Montgomery Township and Lower Pottsgrove. In Pennsylvania, retail theft charges are graded as third-degree felonies when the offense is the third or subsequent offense, regardless of the value of the merchandise allegedly stolen.

Sarau’s rap sheet shows prior convictions for theft, retail theft, access device fraud, unauthorized use of motor vehicles and other charges in numerous cases in Montgomery, Philadelphia, Delaware and other counties going back to 1991.