Woman arrested 96 times released again without bail

As the The Post, a self-described "professional shoplifter" woman with 96 arrests on her account was arrested again this week on charges of theft on the Upper East Side and then released after being charged Feb. 17.

Michelle McKelly, 42, allegedly bragged about her "scam" at a store on Third Avenue near East 70th Street. As prosecutors in Manhattan Criminal Court said, she said policemen after her last arrest on February 16: "I haven't been caught in a long time."

“I am a professional shoplifter and you all stop my theft,” the serial shoplifter allegedly told officers.

Speaking after the hearing, McKelly shamelessly described how she "professionally hides" items, including the red shirt she wore to court.

"I need to buy a new outfit... so I have to go to work," McKelly replied when asked if she would continue her "activities."

Four open cases at least

“I don’t call it stealing, I call it professional theft,” she remarked as if nothing had happened.

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Police sources said McKelly had 96 previous arrests, mostly for petty theft. These are misdemeanors that are not subject to bail under state law. She has at least four other open cases: one for robbery (a felony) and three felonies.

She was under surveillance for another petty theft at the time of her arrest and also had seven open court warrants, prosecutors said.

The brazen thief has one felony conviction and two misdemeanor convictions. She failed to appear in court at least 27 times.

According to the criminal complaint, on September 16, she stole several items from an Upper East Side Target store, including socks and bottles of Tide. And on December 11, she returned to the same store for clothes.

Public Defender McKelly supported the request, stating that her client complied with supervised release until around December 1, when she became homeless.

"I'm just not sure she's going to comply," Pauley said, citing McKelly's 27 no-shows.

But still, the judge agreed to release McKelly under the supervision of the Center for Alternative Sentences and Employment Services (CASES). She warned McKelly not to miss a single meeting, otherwise she would be arrested again, and be sure to appear at her next hearing, because otherwise the judge could issue a warrant and set bail.

Judge frees another serial thief

On the same day, February 17, the same judge ordered the release under administrative supervision of another alleged serial thief, Stephanie Lindao. Lindao has 72 arrests, according to police sources, most of them for petty theft and burglary.

Lindao, 33, is accused of attacking Target at 500 Grand Street in the Lower East Side three times this month alone: ​​February 8, 10 and 11. She took out goods, including soap, detergent and clothes, according to the criminal complaint.

She has 21 misdemeanor convictions, 12 no-shows, and several open cases, prosecutors said. But she is still required to be released under administrative supervision.

Lindao did not attend any of the CASES meetings she had previously been ordered to attend.

“Your honor, she will go today,” Lindao’s lawyer Khushbu Sapru swore. And her client said, “I will go. Promise".

167 arrests but still at large

The hearings came after Pauley set a bail on February 15 for another alleged serial thief, Jamel Pringle. He was arrested for theft at Rite Aid on the Upper East Side this week with 167 arrests to his credit. Pringle's previous cases include one instance where he allegedly threatened two people with a stick and threatened, "I'll kill you."

In this case, prosecutors requested a $5000 bail, citing an amendment to the law that allows repeat offenders who commit a new felony or a Class A misdemeanor during the commission of a similar offense to set bail if both offenses resulted in injury to person or property.

The Manhattan District Attorney's office did not immediately comment on why they requested bail in Pringle's case and not in McKelly's or Lindao's.

Stores across the Big Apple have recently experienced a series of thefts, some of them violent.

A police officer said that in many cases of theft, people steal goods from large stores or pharmacies and then resell them to small ones.

The thieves even greet the employees of the shops who rob

On the morning of February 15, a shoplifter got into a fight with a security guard at Duane Reade in Manhattan right in front of a Post journalist and photographer who was reporting on an armed robbery at that store.

And last week, a thief attacked a store employee who accused him of stealing food from a freezer at Morningside Heights Duane Reade, police said.

According to the NYPD, the man allegedly punched the 21-year-old worker in the face, grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the floor.

Ashley Barrs, a security guard on Rite Aid's Upper East Side, said Pringle, who was accused of Monday's beating, is a "regular" at the store, which she says is attacked by thieves five to 10 times a day.

"These thieves do whatever they please," Barrs, 22, said. “Some of them even greet me: they say good morning and continue to steal.”