Crime & Safety
Woman Swiped Frozen Food, Police Say
Maria L. Zuleta, 57, faces felony charge due to prior convictions for theft.
An Easton woman is accused of trying to leave the Giant supermarket in Palmer Township Sunday morning with two bags of raw shrimp and a bag of sweet peas concealed in her purse.
Court records say Maria L. Zuleta, 57, has three prior guilty pleas for “petit larceny” in New York state, meaning the Palmer Township charge of retail theft rises to a level-three felony.
A loss-prevention official at the Giant, 801 S. 25th St., told police he saw Zuleta take shrimp off a shelf, then go over to the dairy aisle and conceal the shrimp in her purse. She checked out, only paying for milk. Police arrived around 11am.
The official stopped the suspect outside the store and found the shrimp and peas – with a total value of $65.96 – inside her purse.
The records say Zuleta’s previous guilty pleas for petit larceny all were in Westchester County, N.Y. – 1987 in White Plains, 1991 in Greenburgh Township, and 1994 in New Rochelle.
Zuleta, of 931 Ferry St., was arraigned later Sunday by on-duty District Judge Jackie Taschner of Palmer Township and committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $20,000 bail.