David James Christy, 38, of Philadelphia, allegedly tried to incriminate someone else in the thefts, police say.
A Philadelphia man with four retail theft convictions faces two counts each of retail theft and receiving stolen property, in addition to misdemeanor offenses, for allegedly stealing more than $1,770 in health and wellness products, and a $400 Cricut machine, from Target in Montgomeryville over a two-week period.
David James Christy, 38, of the 2900 block of Kensington Avenue, was charged by Montgomery Township Police Oct. 3 with two misdemeanor counts of falsely incriminating another person and three misdemeanor counts of false identification to law enforcement, in addition to the felony charges, per court records.
Christy is free on $10,000 unsecured bail, awaiting an Oct. 22 preliminary hearing at 10:45 a.m. before Magisterial District Judge Andrea Duffy.
On Sept. 20 at 7:35 p.m., police allege Christy shoplifted the following items from Target at 125 Witchwood Drive: Two Crest White-Strips boxes at $44.99 each; four boxes of Crest White Strips at $64.99 each; and eight packs of Nicorette gum at $66.99 each. All in all, the total value of the theft was $818.87, police said.
On Oct. 3, at 12:45 p.m., Christy allegedly committed a second incident of retail theft at the Target, allegedly stealing the following: Two packs of Hanes boxers at $18 each; four boxes of Crest White Strips at $49.99 each; four boxes of Crest White Strips at $34.99 each; a bottle of Flonase at $46.99; a bottle of Pataday allergy drops at $37.49; a box of Zyrtec at $42.49; two boxes of Nordic natural supplements at $25.49 each; and a $399 Cricut machine. All in all, the total value of the theft was $953.86, police said.
When taking Christy into custody, police were in full uniform and told him he was under official police investigation, per the affidavit. He provided false information to police about his identity right after, police allege.
Police said Christy gave the name of another person in an attempt to implicate them in the crime committed, police said.
Christy has an extensive criminal history in New Jersey, including four retail theft convictions between December 2009 and October 2013, police said. He also has other criminal convictions and a number of active cases, including a pending retail theft charge in Upper Merion Township, per the complaint.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
