Montgomery Township Police. Photo by James Short.
The two were arrested on a shoplifting offense in Cheltenham.
A Flourtown woman faces felony charges of retail theft and criminal conspiracy and misdemeanor receiving stolen property and an associated conspiracy charge for allegedly shoplifting more than $200 worth of tequila and champagne from a liquor store in Montgomery Township.
Roniqua Kiara Rankins, 24, of the 1400 block of Bethlehem Pike in Flourtown, allegedly committed the crime alongside co-defendant Steven Xavier Jones, of Davisville Road in Warminster, who has prior convictions for retail theft, police said. Jones is charged with felony retail theft and misdemeanor receiving stolen property, per court records.
On Dec. 7 at 2:59 p.m., police responded to a shoplifting report at the Fine Wine and Good Spirits store at 1210 Bethlehem Pike, which had occurred earlier in the day, police said.
Police said the couple entered the store at 1:50 p.m. and proceeded to select three bottles of tequila, a bottle of wine and a bottle of champagne. At 2:06 p.m., the couple made their way to the front of the store and allegedly shoplifted all the liquor.
All in all, $269 in liquor was stolen, police said.
Rankins and Jones were eventually arrested for shoplifting at Target in Cheltenham Township, police said. Authorities recognized them via a request to identify flyer sent to area police agencies.
Rankins was unable to post 10% of $1,000 cash bail and was remanded to Montgomery County jail, per court records. A preliminary hearing is set for Jan. 14 at 11:30 a.m. before Magisterial District Judge Andrea Duffy.
Jones has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Thursday at 11 a.m. before Magisterial District Judge Christopher Cerski. He is free on $2,500 unsecured bail, according to court documents.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
