Crime & Safety
Husband, Wife Charged in Whole Foods Pickpocketing
Police: The Upper Marlboro couple is suspected in thefts around the region, including in Silver Spring.
A husband and wife from Upper Marlboro are charged with theft and fraud for pickpocketing a woman at the Whole Foods Market in downtown Silver Spring, Montgomery County police said this week.
The couple is suspected in multiple thefts around the region. Karen Steelman, 52, and Kenneth Harris, 53, were found in their Upper Marlboro home with more than $50,000 in merchandise bought using stolen credit cards, Upper Marlboro Patch reported. In addition to the Silver Spring theft, the couple is suspected in six cases of theft in Anne Arundel County.
Steelman is in custody, and there is currently a warrant for Harris’s arrest, Montgomery County police said.
The theft at Whole Foods, at 833 Wayne Ave., occurred June 6, when a woman attempted to pay for her items and realized that her wallet was missing from her purse.
One of the woman’s children later told police that when his mother left the cart to get an item off a shelf, a man approached the cart and placed a jacket over the purse. Then he grabbed the jacket and walked away.
About $1,600 was charged to one of the victim’s credit cards, according to police. Surveillance video captured the two suspects using the card, police said.
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