DUBOIS – A bench warrant was issued after a Pittsburgh man who allegedly stole several items from an area Wal-Mart failed to appear for a preliminary hearing Friday during Centralized Court.
Steven Jeffrey Riley, 34, 329 Dell Ave., Pittsburgh is charged with felony retail theft and criminal conspiracy in two cases for separate thefts at the Wal-Mart store in Sandy Township. In one case, he removed one can of dog food and in the other, he and Michael Macindoe took more than $200 worth of items without paying for them.
Macindoe, 44, DuBois, is also charged with retail theft and conspiracy. He waived his right to a hearing Friday and his bail was set at $10,000, unsecured.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, on Feb. 15, Macindoe distracted an associate by crumbling dollar bills and throwing them to the floor. He asked her “I wonder how long it will take someone to pick that up?” The associate ignored him and then he started to throw $20 bills on the ground in an effort to make a scene and draw the associate away from her position watching the self check out area.
While Macindoe was distracting the employee, Riley was at a self check out register scanning items and loading his cart. He kept scanning one item while putting others in the cart without scanning them. Riley did not put any money or credit card in the machine and pushed the cart out without paying while the employee was distracted. As Riley left, Macindoe followed him into the parking lot, where they loaded the items into a vehicle. The items were valued at $224.17.
In the second case, on Feb. 21, police were called after the same two men were seen in Wal-Mart again. They left with only a can of dog food this time and appeared nervous because they were being watched, an employee told police
They were driving the same vehicle, which was registered to Kimberly Riley of Treasure Lake. Police then went to that residence. Kimberly Riley, who is Steven’s sister, told officers that when they returned to her home on Feb. 15, Macindoe held up a Keurig coffee maker and stated “look what we got for you!” This stolen item was recovered at the residence.
Riley has eight prior retail theft convictions in Pennsylvania and New York.
