Police say cigar theft snuffed out
CRANBERRY TWP — Holy smokes!
A man is accused of snatching up and making off with a display case full of premium cigars Wednesday night from a store in Cranberry Township.
Police, however, snuffed out the suspected thief's plan and recovered the stolen stogies.
District Judge Bill O'Donnell on Thursday arraigned William J. Derrick, 37, of Cranberry Township on a misdemeanor charge of retail theft. The defendant was later released on $5,000 unsecured bail.
Township police said they were called shortly before 9 p.m. to the Freedom Market on Freedom Road for the reported shoplifting of hundreds of dollars worth of cigars.
The owner recounted that a man wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt came in and walked away with a display case filled with the cigars.
The theft, recorded on video surveillance, showed a car pulling into the store parking lot, according to court documents. A man got out and bought two cigars, and returned to the car.
Several minutes later, police said, a man wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and dark pants got out of the same car and entered the store.
“The male grabbed the display case full of cigars,” a police affidavit said, “and exited the store back to the (car) which fled the scene.”
The security camera captured the license plate number, which police traced to Derrick's home. He eventually took an officer to where he had stashed the stolen merchandise, valued at $231.28, documents said.
