Panera Pickpockets Charged: Aberdeen Police

ABERDEEN, MD — Police said that two Philadelphia women were charged with theft in a case of pickpocketing at the Aberdeen Panera on Friday, Dec. 14. One of the women was charged in two similar incidents in Abingdon and Bel Air, officials reported.

The arrests came after a woman reported her clutch was taken while she was at Panera in the 1000 block of Beards Hill Road in Aberdeen at 12:28 p.m. on Friday.

When they arrived, authorities said they saw a woman leaving Target who matched one of the suspect descriptions and was walking to a vehicle in the Royal Farms parking lot. Both stores are within walking distance of the Panera where the patron told police two women had taken a clutch containing cash and personal items from her purse.

Once she got to Royal Farms, the possible suspect got into a vehicle with New York tags, police said, where officers converged to prevent it from leaving the parking lot pending an investigation.

Latisha Rice, 32, and Whitney Ryder, 32, both of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, were charged with theft under $100 and theft from $100 to $1,500.

Police said the clutch stolen from inside the victim’s purse in Aberdeen was later found discarded in a nearby trash can.

The Harford County Sheriff's Office, which had sent out an intelligence bulletin in September involving a purse theft from Panera, filed charges against Rice in two thefts in Abingdon and Bel Air. Those occurred in August and November.

Rice is currently being held without bail at the Harford County Detention Center.

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• Panera Thieves Strike Again: Harford Sheriff

The Harford County Sheriff's Office said that investigators are working to determine whether charges will be brought against the second suspect arrested by Aberdeen officers.

Court records show Rice, of the 5600 block of Larthwood Avenue, was charged with the following:

• Charges from Aug. 23 purse thefts in Abingdon and Bel Air Panera restaurants
  • Stealing a credit card
  • Two counts of charging $100–$1,500 on another's credit card
  • Theft from $100 to $1,500
• Charges related to Nov. 28 wallet theft at Abingdon Panera
  • Theft from $100 to $1,500
  • Theft from $1,500 to $25,000
  • Stealing another's credit card
  • Attempting to charge $100 to $1,500 on another's credit card
  • Two counts of charging $100 to $1,500 on another's credit card
  • Charging $1,500 to $25,000 on another's credit card

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Photo courtesy of the Aberdeen Police Department.