Crime & Safety
Peas, Shrimp Snatched from Palmer Giant
Easton woman tried to take shrimp, peas, from Palmer Township Giant, court records state.
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, according to the records. Police arrived around 11 a.m.
The official stopped Zuleta 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, the records say.
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.