THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 2, 1995 TAG: 9508020455
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: COROLLA LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
Two women from an upscale Long Island community who allegedly went on a shoplifting spree while vacationing on the Outer Banks are scheduled to appear in Currituck General District Court Aug. 30.
Carleen Foresta and Mary Ann Campoli, both 43 and residents of the harbor town of Northport, N.Y., were charged in July with 11 counts of misdemeanor larceny and possessing stolen merchandise from Corolla's Timbuk II shops.
The stolen goods included jewelry, dress shirts, handbags, sandals, sunglasses, bathing suits, men's shoes and straw hats. Other items were children's clothes, hair accessories, T-shirts, figurines and postcards.
Foresta also was charged with eluding arrest and assault with a deadly weapon. She allegedly came close to running into a man with her 1995 Jeep Wagoneer as the women fled July 25, according to police.
The tab for the stolen goods totaled $1,259.23 - including $25.86 for a meal they were eating at Steamer's Restaurant & Raw Bar when they were confronted July 25 by a merchant who allegedly saw them with some of the missing goods.
The two women told police they drove from Duck about 1:30 that afternoon to shop in Corolla.
A chase began when a Timbuk II merchant noticed an item missing after Foresta and Campoli left her shop. She later saw the women dining nearby, a police spokeswoman said Tuesday.
``One of the females was showing the other a scarf that (the merchant) recognized as having just been stolen from her shop,'' said Susan Johnson of the Currituck County Sheriff's Department.
The merchant asked for the item, but the women refused to give it to her, police said. ``They told her it was not hers and fled the restaurant through different doors,'' Johnson said.
As Foresta and Campoli sped off in the Jeep, a man who was watching nearby came closer to read the vehicle's license plate number and was almost run over, Johnson said.
Sheriff's Deputy Bryan Bradley then chased the women about five miles south on curvy, two-lane N.C. 12, when the Jeep veered off the road and became mired in sand.
Bradley ``observed in the Jeep several articles of clothing with price tags still attached,'' Johnson said. Bradley was assisted by deputies Tony Mele and Aaron Wolff.
Foresta and Campoli admitted they had stolen some of the souvenirs and summer clothing in their possession, according to a police report.
``They did have a substantial amount of cash on them,'' Johnson said of the two women. ``They were not broke.''
Foresta and Campoli were taken into custody. Family members later posted a $25,000 bond for each. by CNB