Purse snatch ends in burglary

A couple lured the victim's family members from their home, then broke in, police said.
By ANGIE MASON
Daily Record/Sunday News
Article Launched: 03/08/2007 06:16:58 AM EST


Mar 8, 2007 — Newberry Township Police arrested a Mechanicsburg man and woman they say first stole a woman's purse, then lured her family from their home to burglarize it.
"They took advantage of these people twice," Newberry Township Police Chief David Duffy said. "We investigate a lot of burglaries, (but) not often ones that are so clearly planned out and a specific person is targeted."

On Jan. 27, Connie Lausch notified Silver Spring Township Police in Cumberland County after she forgot her purse at a McDonald's inside a Wal-Mart in the Silver Spring Commons shopping center and returned to find it gone, her husband, Donald Lausch, said Wednesday.

"We rushed home that night and changed the locks," Donald Lausch said, worried the thieves would try to get in their home. The credit cards were used before the couple canceled them, but there were no signs anyone tried to break into their home that night, he said.

They didn't expect it to happen weeks later, he said.

About 12:30 p.m. Feb. 12, the Lauschs' 27-year-old son, Scott, was at home and received a phone call from a man who said he found the purse in a shopping cart at a supermarket in Mechanicsburg, police said. The man said he'd stay there if they came to get the purse, according to police.

Donald Lausch said he found the call a bit odd and called Silver Spring Township Police, who agreed to meet them at the market.

Lausch and his son tried three branches of the supermarket in Mechanicsburg and didn't find anyone with the purse. About an hour and a half later, they returned home to find the front door forced open and items missing.

Donald Lausch first looked for the televisions, he said, which were still there.

"It was mainly computer stuff they took," he said. Items taken included a laptop computer, a digital camera with printer, a wedding band, X-Box 360 games and a silverware set, according to police.

The burglars left a trail, according to police. read more..