Crime & Safety
Best Buy Employee Swipes Laptop, Camera, Police Say
A Best Buy employee has admitted to police and the store that he stole a laptop and camera with a total value of about $1,050, court records say.
A Best Buy employee has admitted to police and the store that he stole a laptop and camera with a total value of about $1,050, court records say.
Joseph Emmet Starace, 28, allegedly stole the Sony laptop and Fuji camera from the Bethlehem Township store in the Southmont Shopping Center, the records say. He allegedly later sold the items at an Easton pawn shop.
Starace’s address is 2922 Hope Road, also in Bethlehem Township and just north of the shopping center.
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The records say he has a 2011 conviction for retail theft in Palmer Township, has faced several drug charges, and is currently in a program for first-time offenders in connection with a drunken driving charge.
Bethlehem Township Patrolman Andrew R. Keyock writes in a criminal complaint that on Monday, the Best Buy reported a theft by an employee.
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Keyock met with the store manager and learned that Starace had been suspected in the theft of “numerous computers and electronic items.” The manager said “surveillance” of Starace was taking place.
The officer also learned that on April 10, Starace was observed placing the laptop and camera into his vehicle and “was confronted.” He admitted to store officials that he took the items, the complaint says.
In an interview with Keyock, Starace admitted to the theft and said he sold the items at Easton Exchange, 58 Centre Square, the complaint says. It does not say how much Starace got for the items.
The laptop is valued at $949.99 and the camera is valued at $99.99 for a total of $1,049.98.
Keyock said he later went to Easton Exchange, where he retrieved the laptop and camera and obtained documentation to show that Starace was the person who sold the items, the complaint says.
Starace was charged with retail theft and receiving stolen property, both level-one misdemeanors. He was arraigned Wednesday afternoon by District Judge Jackie Taschner of Palmer Township and released on $10,000 unsecured bail.