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Aug. 26 pretrial conference set for shoplifting suspect
GREENCASTLE -- An Aug. 26 pretrial date has been set for a Greencastle woman accused of shoplifting several items from two discount stores.
Jessica Phares, 26, was arrested June 15 after she allegedly stole merchandise at the Dollar General stores at 507 N. Jackson St. and 1520 Indianapolis Road, both in Greencastle.
Phares faces three Class D felony counts: Theft, attempted theft and possession of a controlled substance. She remains in jail. At her initial hearing on June 17, Phares' bond was set at $5,000 cash.
According to court documents, the manager of the Dollar General on Jackson Street contacted Greencastle Police Department Capt. Mike Hanlon just before 11 a.m. on June 15. The manager told Hanlon that while she was helping another customer, she had seen a woman walk out of the store with a large purse full and an armload of items from the store.
Some of the items the manager noticed being carried out were blankets, a curling iron, a blow dryer and children's clothing.
The manager of the Jackson Street store then called the manager of the Indianapolis Road store to alert her that the woman could be headed there.
The manager of the Indianapolis Road store called the manager at the Jackson Street store just after noon to say she believed the alleged thief was now in her store attempting to steal items.
Hanlon was still in the Jackson Street store, and spoke on the phone with the manager of the Indianapolis Road store. That manager described a woman matching the description of a woman on a surveillance tape from the Jackson Street store.
Hanlon drove to the Indianapolis Road store, where the shoplifting suspect was at the register checking out.
When Phares went to leave the store, Hanlon asked to see identification. Hanlon asked Phares if she had just been to the other Dollar General and if she had paid for the items she took from that store.
"Ms. Phares told me she put all of that stuff back," Hanlon said.
Hanlon informed Phares that she had been caught on video stealing from the Jackson Street store. Phares was transported back to the Jackson Street store, where the manager positively identified her. Hanlon obtained consent to search Phares's purse and found several items with Dollar General tags in it.
Phares offered to pay for the items she took, court documents said. Hanlon said she could not, and asked where the items she had stolen from the Jackson Street store were.
Phares said they were at her home on Bloomington Street. Phares was booked into jail; then Hanlon went back to her home, where a male resident let him in.
There, Hanlon found the items the manager at the Jackson Street Dollar General said Phares had stolen.
Phares' purse also contained several prescription drugs, including Tramadol, Clonazepam and hydrocodone.
Phares was initially implicated but later cleared of any culpability in the December 2007 prescription drug overdose death of 17-year-old Dietrich Jackson of Greencastle.
In September, Phares was named as an alleged victim in a battery case against Jackson's mother, Treva Jackson. That case is still pending.