Woman Arrested for Taking Dropped Cash
A woman has been arrested after she was seen on surveillance footage picking up and keeping a wad of cash that fell out of a man's pocket as he was standing in a line at a store.
Stephanie Paparo, 28, of Clifton Heights, was taken into custody Tuesday night after local Delaware news broadcast footage from the security camera from a Wawa in Upper Darby, WPVI reported.
Police explained that they received several phone calls by anonymous callers with tips which led police to Paparo's home. The authorities stated that they found Paparo at home and then took her into custody.
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Paparo was arraigned Wednesday morning in the Delaware County courthouse.
The video from the convenience store showed something fall out of the pocket of Jim Duffy as he waited in the checkout line. Noticing the object, Paparo is seen bending down and picking up the money and then checked around to see if anyone had seen her before leaving the store.
Baffled as to where the money could have gone, Duffy retraced his steps and ended up back at the store, where he convinced the store manager to let him review the camera footage.
Police say Paparo stole $2,300 in cash. Duffy explained that he was planning on using the money as a down payment on a new car. He is currently driving a Honda with more than 200,000 miles on the odometer.
"Maybe she just needed the money really bad or something. I started thinking what would I do, naturally I'd give it back to the person," Duffy said.
A friend of Paparo told local media that she is going through tough financial times and made a mistake.
Police said Paparo, who does not have a criminal record, spent some of the money on her three children and used the rest to pay her rent.
Police said that they have yet to recover any of the money.
