A 48-year-old Florida woman faces criminal charges after police say she brought her 9-year-old daughter to Target and used her to help steal merchandise.
Lisa Debenedictis is charged with petit theft and contributing to the delinquency of a child, according to court records.
Officers responded to a Target location in Flagler County after store asset protection staff reported that a woman and a young girl “were concealing merchandise and had just exited the store,” according to an arrest affidavit.
Police stopped Debenedictis and her daughter outside the building. Investigators reviewed surveillance footage from inside the store, which allegedly showed both individuals taking unpaid items.
Officers reported that the child hid $25.97 worth of items in a pink backpack, while Debenedictis bypassed payment for $47.27 worth of merchandise at a self-checkout terminal.
“While Lisa was inside the bathroom, [the child] obtained merchandise and placed it into a pink backpack,” the arrest affidavit states. “Lisa returned … and grabbed a package of Lysol wipes from the shopping cart and placed the item into [the child’s] backpack with her knowledge.”
The two then walked through the store selecting food and other goods before going to the self-checkout area. “Lisa purposely did not scan numerous items and placed them into a grocery bag,” police wrote in the document, adding that she “purposely failed to scan merchandise that was left inside the grocery cart and did not attempt to scan the items.”
The items the 9-year-old allegedly took included a set of 14K gold-plated earrings valued at $19.99, Gumi Yum candy priced at $2.99, and a container of Lysol spray worth $2.99.
Items allegedly stolen by Debenedictis included organic sugar, Coca-Cola, bagels, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, feminine wipes, an EcoTools blending brush, Bodi Sands self-tanning drops, acrylic paint, stickers, and trading card packs.
“It was determined that Lisa encouraged and assisted [her daughter] to conceal unpaid merchandise with the intent on depriving Target,” the affidavit concludes. “Furthermore, Lisa participated in the theft by purposely not scanning numerous items and accompanying [her daughter] of Target without rendering payment, passing all points of sale. [Her daughter’s] actions constituted a shoplifting — petit theft, which Lisa caused and contributed to [her daughter’s] delinquency.”
Debenedictis is scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 1.
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