PC Shoplifter: 'I Didn't Think It Was Stealing As Long As I Didn't Leave the Parking Lot'

A Port Chester woman tried to redefine shoplifting after she was arrested for pocketing jewelry and perfume in Kohl's Tuesday night.

Police say 26-year-old Amy Rosenberg walked into at 7:45 p.m. Security staff at the 431 Boston Post Rd. department store watched Rosenberg place jewelry and perfume into her shopping cart before she headed for the fitting rooms.

There aren't cameras in the fitting rooms due to privacy laws, but a guard thought Rosenberg was acting suspicious and walked into the adjoining fitting room, where she heard Rosenberg ripping the tags and packaging off of items, Lt. James Ladeairous said. The security guard called police.

When Rosenberg emerged from the fitting room, the merchandise was gone, according to store security. Rosenberg walked past the cash registers, out of the store and into the parking lot, where the same security guard confronted her and told her to return the stolen items.

"At first she refused and started walking toward her car," Ladeairous said. "The guard asked her again, and she gave most of the stuff back."

Rosenberg got into her car and drove a few hundred feet away to another part of the , parking in a separate lot in front of a Verizon store. The guard followed.

When a police officer arrived a few minutes later and told Rosenberg she was under arrest, the Port Chester woman protested, saying she didn't intend to take the jewelry and perfume.

"I didn't think it was stealing as long as I didn't leave the parking lot," Rosenberg said, according to the police report.

Police recovered all of the stolen merchandise, valued at $345, except for a sterling silver ring. A search of Rosenberg's car turned up a flashlight that had been taken from Kohl's, as well as tagged merchandise from Marshall's.

Rosenberg, of Soundview Street, was charged with misdemeanor petty larceny.

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