A North Wales man has been arrested for the fifth time in six months, after he was allegedly caught stealing a four-pack of wine from Wegmans in Montgomery Township.
According to the criminal complaint, police were dispatched to Wegmans—located along the 800 block of Bethlehem Pike—at 12:52 p.m. on April 18 for a report of a retail theft with a suspect in loss-prevention custody. Upon arrival, police learned that the suspect—identified as 54-year-old John Hitchens, of North Wales—had allegedly selected two four-packs of wine, then placed three bottles from one container into his coat pockets, and only paid for the second four-pack.
The value of each four-pack was $6.99.
The report states that Hitchens had been cited/arrested four prior times in the last six months at Wegmans, and had been ordered by both store officials and police to not return to the store. The report also states that Hitchens was found to have a blood-alcohol-content of .211 percent at the time of the arrest.
Court records indicate that Hitchens has a total of seven active cases against him—including the five incidents at Wegmans—dating back to October 2018. Charges range from summary public drunkenness to misdemeanor retail theft and defiant trespassing.
Hitchens was arraigned on April 18 by Magisterial District Judge Juanita Price, who set bail at 10-percent of $5,000 cash. Hitchens was then remanded to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility after failing to post bail. His next court appearance is a preliminary hearing on May 6 in front of Magisterial District Judge Andrea Duffy.
(Editor's note: All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. Should the defendant choose to issue a public statement, or is later found not guilty or has the charges dropped, we will update this article accordingly.)
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