Williamsburg woman, part of shoplifting duo, convicted in New Kent Circuit Court

A Williamsburg woman who was part of a shoplifting duo has been found guilty on two charges during Aug. 25 New Kent Circuit Court proceedings.

Courtney Lee Stephenson, 27, of the 100 block of Winter East Road, was convicted on one charge each of grand larceny and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. One charge of possession of cocaine was dismissed.

Volunteer assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Brenton J. Bohannon opened the contested trial against Stephenson, indicating that she and another codefendant, Emily Bowles, shoplifted from the Providence Forge Food Lion last Christmas Eve.

Testimony from Food Lion employees Ryan Watson and Patrick MacEnroth recalled the suspicious activity of the two ladies on that day.

“I saw both of the ladies walking around the store with a shopping cart that was overflowing,” said Watson. “A few moments later, some of the items were placed in a hand basket.”

“The basket was filled with health and feminine products,” added MacEnroth. “It just seemed odd that those items were in the basket, especially knowing that most people pick up turkey, ham, and fresh vegetables the day before Christmas.”

After both women walked towards the restroom in the rear of the building with the baskets, Watson observed them from behind a service door. At one point, Bowles entered the restroom with a beige handbag and the hand basket as Stephenson continued to shop with the larger cart in the store. Watson notified then New Kent deputy Tim Davis, who happened to be shopping in the store. Upon notification, Davis observed the same suspicious activity with Watson in the back of the store, and sent MacEnroth to follow the alleged suspects down the aisles.

Trailing the suspects, MacEnroth saw items in the beige bag and notified the former deputy. According to testimony, Stephenson checked out with the cart, with Bowles leaving the hand basket on the counter top with items, both exiting simultaneously. An attempt by MacEnroth to stop the women failed, but Davis was able to catch up with the women.

“I asked them if I could search the bag due to my observations,” said Davis. “After finding those items, I received consent to search the vehicle for more stolen items.”

Searching the bag and vehicle yielded several opened items, most with the Food Lion emblem on them. Through backtracking by employees, casings for the goods were located inside the trash container in the bathroom. Watson said trash had just been emptied prior to the women entering the facility.

When searching the vehicle, the deputy recovered a black makeup bag that was filled with syringes. Bowles testified that it belonged to Stephenson and that both had an idea what they were going to do before they entered the store.

“We had just got intoxicated from injecting ourselves prior to entering the store,” Bowles said. “I guess you can say we both implied that we were going to take things from that particular store because it was an easy target.”

But that idea backfired, thanks to the overflowed cart, according to Bowles.

“I guess we were too high to think about what we were doing,” she concluded.

Bowles, however, said that while she did the physical transferring of items from the boxes to the purse, it was Stephenson’s idea on what items to steal.

Defense attorney Richard Collins argued that testimony about Stephenson contradicted that of the witnesses.

“[Bowles] is not a credible witness,” said Collins, pointing to her past record that had a petty larceny on it. “My client [Stephenson] was shopping and paid for her items and went through the checkout line.

“You have Ms. Bowles here stating she was beside Ms. Stephenson when she checked out, but the other witnesses only saw my client there,” he added.

While Collins’ motion to strike the possession of heroin was granted due to not properly following the chain of command (for submission of evidence), Judge Thomas B. Hoover looked at a key factor that pointed to the relationship linking the duo.

“It was testified that the purse used during these acts belong to Ms. Stephenson,” said Hoover. “There is a significant amount of trust when one lady gives her purse to another.

“That’s a major connection in the crime to show these two had a relationship,” the judge continued. “The defendant knew what she was doing, and with that, I find her guilty on both the grand larceny and the misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia charges.”