Jan. 27--ST. LOUIS -- A wily woman with quick hands kept two police officers on their toes Friday, according to charges filed in court.
The officers thought they were responding to a domestic disturbance when they got the call, just after midnight. But it turned into a larceny, with one of the officers as the unsuspecting victim.
According to a probable cause statement:
Tonia Rene Hart, 25, of the 5400 block of Blow Street, told police that her boyfriend had stolen her keys after an argument. The officers drove Hart to her boyfriend's home, two blocks away, and left her in the cruiser while they went inside. They found no keys.
Ten minutes later, the same officers were called to respond to a larceny at the Huck's mini-mart at 6901 Hampton Avenue. They found Hart, her vehicle filled with groceries, cigarettes and lottery tickets. She had also gotten gas.
Police learned from Hart's receipts that she had used a bank card belonging to one of the officers. It had been stolen, they determined, along with another bank card and $50, from the officer's police bag while they were inside the boyfriend's home investigating her call for help.
"I did not authorize the defendant to take my wallet and authorized no purchases," the officer wrote in the probable cause statement.
Police said Hart also managed to escape after being handcuffed and placed in the police cruiser, leading to a brief chase.
Hart has been charged with one felony count of stealing and five associated misdemeanor charges.
Copyright 2012 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch
