A Massachusetts man was arrested and charged with theft last weekend after Montgomery Township police alleged he took gift cards containing more than $9,000 from a wedding at which he was a guest.
According to charging documents, Richard Leone, 68, of Charlton, Mass., a friend of the groom’s mother, accompanied her and her grandchild home from the wedding about 11:30 p.m. Friday. She told police she took the grandchild to bed and asked Leone to retrieve flowers and a large mirror from the car. Police say Leone told them he did so, but that he had no idea a wooden box containing gift cards for the couple also was in the back seat.
When the groom arrived home about 1:30 a.m., he called police to report he found debris at the side of his driveway which turned out to be the wooden box with several opened cards, according to the documents.
The next morning, as police returned to follow up the investigation, a neighbor turned over security footage showing Leone at the site of the theft, according to the report. Leone again denied knowing about the box, but when he allowed the groom to search his truck, the groom found a scented trash bag containing wedding cards inside a cargo compartment under a rear floor mat, according to police, who said Leone then denied knowing how it got there.
According to charging documents, security footage showed multiple visits by Leone to his truck during the night, which he said were to bring in other items from the wedding and to find his cell phone, which was located on the kitchen table.
The value of the recovered cash and checks was $9.140. Leone was released on $10,000 unsecured bail; his next court appearance will be Sept. 12 at 11:30 a.m. before Magisterial District Judge Andrea Hudak Duffy.
All
suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was
compiled using police reports, court records and the affidavit of
probable cause.
