Natali Herrera Cardona, left, and Luis Daniel Escalante.
WILKES-BARRE TWP. — A man from New Jersey entered a fitting room where he put on 19 shirts while his co-conspirator stashed multiple belts in a tote bag in an attempt to cheat a department store on Tuesday, according to court records.
Police in Wilkes-Barre Township charged Luis Daniel Escalante, 48, and Natali Herrera-Cardona, 41, both from Trenton, with looting Kohl’s on Wilkes-Barre Township Boulevard, court records say.
Court records allege Escalante entered a fitting room, placed 19 Tommy Hilfiger shirts on himself, removed the security tags from each item, and walked out of the store without paying.
While Escalante was in the fitting room, court records say, Herrera-Cardona was on her way out of the store, passing multiple cash registers with a tote bag that concealed 21 belts.
Escalante and Herrera-Cardona were arraigned on Wednesday by District Judge Joseph Spagnuolo of Plains Township. Escalante was charged with two counts of retail theft and one count of criminal conspiracy, while Herrera-Cardona was charged with one count each of retail theft, criminal conspiracy, possessing instruments of a crime, and driving with a suspended license.
Escalante and Herrera-Cardona were jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $25,000 bail each.
According to the criminal complaints:
A store loss prevention officer monitored Escalante and Herrera-Cardona as they entered the store together at about 4:25 p.m. and went to the men’s clothing section, where they rapidly selected large quantities of Tommy Hilfiger clothing without looking at sizes and pricing, and placed 21 belts in a tote bag.
Escalante went to the fitting room with the Tommy Hilfiger shirts while Herrera-Cardona walked to the store’s exit, where she was stopped by the loss prevention officer. Herrera-Cardona threw the belts onto the floor and walked outside, where police detained her inside her vehicle in the parking lot.
At the same time Herrera-Cardona was being detained, Escalante was in the fitting room where he allegedly removed the security tags from each of the 19 Tommy Hilfiger shirts he put on himself. The security tags were found concealed in a pair of women’s shorts in the fitting room, the complaints say.
“While officers were outside with Herrera-Cardona, the male suspect (Escalante) was observed exiting the establishment. … officers observed the male to be wearing multiple layers of clothing, which was abnormal given the weather conditions,” the complaints say.
According to the National Weather Service, the high temperature Tuesday at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport hit 91 degrees.
Police in the complaints say the value of the belts was $760, and the value of the Tommy Hilfiger shirts was $1,346.