Police say woman brought along her children during multiple recent shoplifting incidents in Ardmore

After investigating multiple incidents at stores throughout the township, the Lower Merion Police have charged a Philadelphia woman with four counts of felony retail theft, three counts of receiving stolen property, and even two counts for corrupting minors, according to court documents.

Keanah Gilliard, 35, of the 400 block of North 59th Street in Philadelphia, is facing felony and related charges after police said she added three more thefts to her record throughout September and October. Police said that they investigated Gilliard after a call from the Sunglass Hut, located at 53 Saint James Place, in the Ardmore section of Lower Merion Township on Sept. 26. The call alleged that a retail theft was in progress.

A store associate described a “heavy-set black female” who had entered the store around 4:21 p.m. and began handling a pair of Miu Miu sunglasses, followed by a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses, police said. The associate told police that the woman then claimed she needed to “Facetime” someone about the glasses, and “quickly left the store without rendering payment.”

After reviewing security footage, police confirmed the store associate’s account of the incident. Police described the woman as “short” with “long black hair” and “wearing all black clothing.” The shirt on the woman was described as stating “ALO” on the front. She also had tattoos on her right and left forearms, police said. The loss from the incident on Sept. 26 included a total value of $1,033 in retail goods.

According to a second store associate, the same woman was observed on Sept. 22 committing a similar retail theft around 4 p.m., police said. A female entered the store on this date and “engaged the store associate in conversation as a distraction,” said police.

A second female matching Gilliard’s description, this time donning a pink jacket and cream-colored pants, concealed four pairs of Tory Burch sunglasses inside her shirt, police said. A juvenile male, later determined to be Gilliard’s son, entered the store, and was “quickly escorted out” by the woman who failed to render payment. The loss on Sept. 22 totalled $806, police said.

On Oct. 14, police received another call around 4:31 p.m. from the ALO Yoga studio located at 65 Saint James Place in the Ardmore section of Lower Merion Township, also for a retail theft. The police said a woman at the studio provided a similar description, again matching Gilliard’s, stating that she’d entered around 4:10 p.m. in all black ALO sweatpants and a Trader Joe’s tote bag.

The studio’s associate said that the woman entered a dressing room with four items. While inside, an unknown teenaged boy who’d entered the store with the woman, passed her additional clothing not counted by an associate, police reported. As the woman exited the dressing room, asking to try on more items, the two exited the store without rendering payment for goods. A total loss of $384 was reported, police said.

In total, during the three incidents, police reported a loss of $2,223 in goods from area businesses. Police investigated the surveillance video from both retailers and observed details of the woman’s tattoos, as well as a vehicle in which the woman left in, a dark red Nissan Maxima with a Pennsylvania license plate.

Automated license plate readers in the vicinity placed the car in the area on Sept. 22, 26 and Oct. 14 during the timeframes of the three thefts. Police interviewed Gilliard at her home in Philadelphia on Oct. 20. Police said that Gilliard’s description, tattoos, and vehicle outside her home all matched prior reports. Gilliard confirmed to police she was in Sunglass Hut and ALO with her children, both of which are juveniles.

After reviewing prior criminal history, police said Gilliard had five prior convictions for retail theft. Gilliard was arraigned by Montgomery County Courts’ Magisterial District Judge Adam T. Katzman on Nov. 7 and was confined to county jail unable to post a $5,000 bail. Gilliard is scheduled for a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Michael P. Quinn on Nov. 18 at 1:45 p.m.

All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.