Woman charged for 2023 hardware store theft in Centre County

CENTRE COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — A Leechburg woman is behind bars after police said she and her husband stole from a hardware store last May.

Rebecca Sanfilippo, 38, had her bail denied after facing her third set of felony retail theft charges in Pennsylvania. Her husband, James Sanfilippo, 44, was already booked on similar charges in August 2023.

Troopers with the Pennsylvania State Police said on May 30, 2023, the couple walked into the Valley Ace Hardware store. According to the criminal complaint, a worker told troopers the couple walked around the store for a bit before spotting a handheld GPS on a shelf. In the video footage, the worker said they allegedly saw James Sanfilippo grab the GPS from the shelf and drop it into Rebecca Sanfilippo’s purse.

The two then continued to walk around the store and were allegedly seen on camera grabbing a flashlight before walking out of the store without purchasing anything, according to the police report.

Officers utilized facial recognition software on the footage to identify the Sanfilippos. According to the affidavit, this was the third time Rebecca Sanfilippo was being charged with retail theft, with this was the sixth time for James Sanfilippo.

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James Sanfilippo is currently awaiting his criminal pre-trial and was charged with two felony counts of retail theft along with two misdemeanor counts for receiving stolen property.

Rebecca Sanfilippo had her bail denied due to not being from the area, having multiple other retail theft cases and being a known drug user, according to online court documents. She is also facing two felony counts of retail theft along with two misdemeanor counts for receiving stolen property.

Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 1.

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