Bra theft suspect arrested
MONTGOMERY TWP — A 33-year-old Philadelphia man is behind bars after Montgomery Township police said he stole several bras from the Victoria’s Secret in the Montgomery Mall last week.
Officers responded to the store around 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 28 after a Victoria’s Secret employee reported seeing a man later identified as Ronald Clarence Richardson, Jr. — of the 1600 block of West Lehigh Avenue — take “multiple bras” out of a drawer, put them into a white plastic bag and then leave without paying, police said.
The alarms affixed to the bras did not go off as Richardson left, according to police, and the employee watched him go into another store, put the bag down and go to another part of the store, at which point she went into the store and recovered the stolen bras, valued at $630.
At that point, police said, Richardson approached the employee and told her “it wasn’t him (that stole the bras),” then left the mall.
Montgomery Township officers said that upon arrival they encountered Richardson at a bus stop outside the mall, and the Victoria’s Secret employee identified him as the individual who had stolen the bras.
After inspecting the white bag, officers found inside it a device commonly used by thieves to circumvent store alarms, police said. Officers also watched security footage from the store Richardson went into after the alleged theft and saw him enter with the white bag, according to police.
Richardson was then taken into custody. Because of his criminal record, which shows multiple prior retail theft convictions in Montgomery and Bucks counties throughout the past 14 years, Richardson was charged with third-degree felony retail theft — the Pennsylvania Crimes Code mandates such a grading for a third or subsequent arrest of this type, regardless of the value of the merchandise stolen — as well as third-degree felony receiving stolen property and misdemeanor possession of an instrument of crime with intent (for the alarm circumvention device).
Richardson was arraigned on Feb. 28 before District Judge Andrea Hudak Duffy, who set bail at $50,000 cash. Richardson was committed to Montgomery County Correctional Facility after failing to post bond. A preliminary hearing before Duffy was scheduled for March 24.