HATFIELD TOWNSHIP CRIME

Woman accused of stealing idling SUV in Hatfield and driving it to Limerick to be arraigned in county court next week

Amy Melissa Sowers was also arrested in a separate $7,000 vandalism incident at Lowe's, police said.

Courts.

Amy Melissa Sowers was also arrested in a separate $7,000 vandalism incident at Lowe's, police said.

  • Courts

A Hatfield Township woman, who had a preliminary hearing this week on allegations of keying cars in a parking lot and stealing Shop Rite sushi, heads to arraignment next week in Montgomery County court on a felony theft charge for allegedly stealing a car idling outside a beer store.

Amy Melissa Sowers, 26, of the 800 block of Forty Foot Road, will also be arraigned on felony receiving stolen property and misdemeanor unauthorized use of a car charges, stemming from a Sept. 9 incident outside Beer Etc. in Hatfield Township. All charges were waived at an October preliminary hearing.

Police accused her of stealing an idling SUV and then driving it to Limerick Township.

On Sept. 9, at 6:24 p.m., police responded to the store at 1540 Cowpath Road for a report of a vehicle theft of a white Chevrolet Tahoe.

Upon arrival, the SUV owner told police he pulled up in front of the beer store and went inside to make a purchase, leaving the truck running with the key in it, police said. When he came back out, the Chevy was gone, police said.

A bulletin of the truck’s Virginia license plate was sent out to area police agencies, who flagged the SUV at 6:29 p.m. westbound on Ridge Pike at Germantown Pike, according to an affidavit.

Giant Food Store security cameras showed that, at 5:55 p.m., the Chevrolet pulls up in front of the store and puts on its hazards, police said. Then, Sowers walked across the parking lot, approached the idling Chevrolet, and entered the driver’s seat, police allege.

The truck then speeds off southbound toward Orvilla Road.

At 6:59 p.m., Limerick Police advised that they were attempting to stop Sowers in the stolen truck, according to the complaint. She was located on Airport Road at Ridge Pike and later taken into custody, police said.

But wait – there’s more.

Sowers is also accused by Hatfield Police with keying two cars in the Lowe’s parking lot on Aug. 10, causing more than $7,000 in damage, and then stealing sushi and a Coke from Shop Rite. A warrant was issued Nov. 4 for charges of felony criminal mischief by damaging property and misdemeanor retail theft and receiving stolen property, according to court records.

Police said Sowers’ distinctive arm tattoo led authorities to connect her to the crimes via video surveillance.

On Aug. 10 at 11:53 a.m., police responded to the hardware store at 160 Forty Foot Road for a complaint of vandalism of a car, police said. The victim told police he parked his red Honda Accord in the lot at 10:30 a.m., and when he returned an hour later, there was a large scratch down the entire passenger side of the Honda, police said.

Police said estimated damage to the Honda was $2,866.

Security camera footage from Lowe’s allegedly showed Sowers walking to the parking lot from the area of Forty Foot and Welsh roads at 10:48 a.m. Two minutes later, Sowers allegedly passed the Honda, walking closely by the passenger side, and appears to be touching the Honda.

Sowers then allegedly continued east through the parking lot, passing a white Toyota Corolla three rows away from the Honda, and appeared to be touching the Toyota as she passed by it.

Then, Sowers walked into Shop Rite, where video there showed her leaving the store with sushi and a bottle of Coke, without paying, police said.

A still frame of Sowers was sent to area police departments for identification, with Towamencin Township Police advising the suspect as Sowers, who had a tattoo on her inner forearm that matched a tattoo on the suspect in the video, according to the affidavit

At 2:01 p.m., police received a call from the owner of the Corolla, stating that his car sustained a deep scratch down the passenger side of the car, with damage estimated at $4,209, police said.

On Sept. 30, at 4 p.m., police spoke to Sowers at her home, where they recognized her tattoo from the surveillance videos, according to the complaint.

Sowers was arrested for retail theft in Oklahoma in 2019, investigators said.

Sowers is free on $50,000 unsecured bail on the auto theft case, and free on $10,000 unsecured bail in the vandalism case, according to court records.

All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.



author

Tony Di Domizio

Tony Di Domizio is the Managing Editor of NorthPennNow, PerkValleyNow, and CentralBucksNow, and a staff writer for WissNow. Email him at [email protected]. Tony graduated from Kutztown University, under the tutelage of Dr. Matthew Nesvisky and Dr. Heather Thomas, and went on to serve as a reporter and editor for various news organizations, including Lansdale Patch/AOL, The Reporter in Lansdale, Pa., and the weekly Chronicle news editions of The Morning Call in Allentown, Pa. A fourth-generation Lansdalian, he was born and raised in and around the Borough, including Little Italy, and attended North Penn High School, graduating in 1998. He once interviewed Jesse Spano in the back of a limousine outside North Penn High School.