Courts. (Credit: Flickr/Creative Commons)
Amy Melissa Sowers has a second active case in Montgomery County court related to the alleged theft of an idling SUV in September.
A Hatfield Township woman with one active Montgomery County Common Pleas case accusing her of stealing an idling SUV and driving it to Limerick Township had a felony criminal mischief-damaging property charge held for county court following a preliminary hearing this month.
Amy Melissa Sowers had misdemeanor charges of retail theft and receiving stolen property dismissed at the Dec. 4 hearing stemming from an incident at Shop Rite in Hatfield Township on Sept. 9 where she was accused of stealing sushi, per court records.
However, the most serious charge against her was held for arraignment in January. Hatfield Police accuse her of keying two cars in the Lowe’s parking lot in August, causing more than $7,000 in damage.
Police alleged in a complaint that on Aug. 10, after keying the cars, Sowers then stole 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.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
