Thief steals $1,000 from Girl Scout troop selling cookies at New Jersey mall
Girl Scouts selling cookies inside of a New Jersey mall were robbed of $1,000, according to authorities.
An envelope containing $1,000, which included $500 and several checks, was swiped off of a Girl Scout table inside Woodbridge Center Mall in northern New Jersey before 5 p.m. on Friday, local police say.
At $4 a box, $1,000 could pay for 250 boxes of Thin Mints, Peanut Butter Patties or Girl Scouts S'mores.
A troop leader had placed the envelope on the cookie table for a moment to help the girls and a suspect, who was captured on surveillance video, quickly took the money and placed it in his pocket, parent Jessica Cunha Medina wrote on Facebook. The suspect, a 6'2" man who appeared unkept and swaying, left with an elderly woman using a red walker, according to Medina.
Seven girls were selling cookies at the time and four leaders were present, she said.
"Honest to God, the good in my heart wants to truly believe this is a misunderstanding and he simply didn’t know or was aware of what he was doing," Medina said.
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Girl Scout Troop 80062 includes girls ages 5 to 12.
"We will not be held back by cowardly thieves," Girl Scout leader Stacey Cacchione said in a statement.
On Saturday, the girls continued cookie sales at a nearby ShopRite.
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Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow Ashley May on Twitter: @AshleyMayTweets
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Thief steals $1,000 from Girl Scout troop selling cookies at New Jersey mall
