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| A woman at a Deerfield Baskin-Robbins apparently took a $20 bill belonging to the girl in the pink jacket on the left side of the image. (Deerfield police) |
Posted: Wednesday, 03 June 2009 7:01AM
'Cold' case solved as girl gets ice cream money back
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DEERFIELD, Ill. (STNG) - Deerfield's most wanted woman avoided theft charges this week by agreeing to pay back a young girl the $20 bill she lifted off the counter at an ice cream shop.
It was through an odd coincidence that police managed to find the woman. She was all over television newscasts after a May 15 surveillance tape showed her taking cash belonging to a 12-year-old girl, who was busy at the moment picking out ice cream at Baskin-Robbins on Waukegan Road.
According to police Cmdr. Walt Trillhaase, a Woodward Avenue resident recognized the person in the video as her neighbor, and told the woman's husband.
That's where the strange twist comes in. Soon afterwards, a burglary was reported on Woodward and a police officer responded, parking a squad car on the street. The husband looked outside and apparently thought the law had caught up with his wife.
"The husband went up to the officer and said, 'Hey, I hear you're looking for my wife,'" Trillhaase said. "The officer contacted (detectives), we went out there and interviewed her and closed it up right there.
"She admitted to taking the money, but not with any criminal intent," Trillhaase added. "She just said she took it without thinking about it."
The woman was scheduled to visit the Police Department with her attorney on Monday, but never showed up. Instead, she arranged to pay back the $20 and police dropped the case.
The news story and accompanying video created an instant media sensation as three local TV stations and both Chicago daily newspapers descended on Deerfield to cover it. Criss-crossing the nation via the Internet and news wires, the story ran on news outlets such as the Huffington Post, New York Daily News and CBS 4 Denver, to name just a few.
When Baskin-Robbins learned of the incident, it offered a gift card and a free ice cream party to the 12-year-old victim, who was left in tears when her money went missing.
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Copyright 2009 STNG Wire, The Chicago Sun-Times. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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