Allegheny Township police charged a woman with a felony count of retail theft after, they say, she stole a $12 pair of leggings from the Family Dollar store along Hyde Park Road, according to her arrest papers.
Barbara Ellen Sanders, 48, of the 1100 block of Route 356 in Allegheny Township was also charged with receiving stolen property in connection with the Feb. 4 incident.
Police tracked her down using information from the state welfare bank card she used to pay for other items at the store, according to the criminal complaint filed on the case.
Sanders faces a preliminary hearing on March 29 before District Judge Cheryl Peck Yakopec.
Police were dispatched to the store after a manager reported finding an empty package for leggings in an aisle and reviewed security video showing the theft, according to the complaint.
Officers reviewed the video and saw a woman dressed in black, with blonde-and-blue hair fixed in a bun. They say she remove the leggings from the package and stuffed them into a sleeve of her sweatshirt, the complaint said.
After ditching the package where the manager found it, the woman continued shopping before checking out of the store, according to the complaint.
Police said they were able to track down Sanders because she paid for items using an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card, which is used to access state welfare benefits.
Investigators said the receipt for the items that Sanders paid for had the last four numbers of the EBT card.
Using those numbers, an agent for the state Office of Inspector General’s fraud division verified that the card was issued to Sanders, the complaint said.
Police noted in the complaint that Sanders has previous convictions for theft and other offenses.
Court records show that she pleaded guilty to a retail theft charge in June 2017 and was sentenced to a year in jail. In May 2017 she pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor drug charges and was sentenced to a year in jail.
She also pleaded guilty to a theft charge in December 2016 and was sentenced to three to 23 months in jail.
In June 2016, Sanders was sentenced to seven days in jail after pleading guilty to a charge of simple assault, according to court records.
