Police in Philadelphia are hunting for a heartless crook who stole $50 from a 9-year-old Girl Scout selling Thin Mints and Caramel deLites right outside her home.
The suspect, described by cops as a black male in his late teens to early 20s, robbed the young girl after approaching her table of cookies outside her South 16th Street house in Center City on Saturday — making off with about $50. The girl was not hurt, police said.
No arrests had been made as of early Thursday, police told The Post.
The girl’s mother, Jennifer Brinkmeier, told Philly.com that the suspect stopped by her daughter’s table twice before robbing her, even buying a box of cookies during his first visit.
Anastasia Stamoulis started selling Thin Mints, Caramel deLites and Thanks-A-Lots at about 2 p.m., wearing a Girl Scout cookie apron and a pocket that was “exactly the right size for her money envelope,” Brinkmeier said.
Anastasia sold about 70 boxes of cookies at $4 a pop, and periodically brought larger bills inside her home throughout the day, Brinkmeier said.
But when the thief came back a second time, he claimed his girlfriend wanted healthy or “vegan” cookies, prompting the girl to give him a list of ingredients for each cookie variety.
The suspect then reached into Anastasia’s apron as she reached to grab the list back from the man, who stole between $50 and $100, Brinkmeier said.
At least three people tried to stop the thief, including a witness standing on the corner, a family in a minivan and a tow truck driver.
“You’re going to prey on a little girl, really? Who does that?” Brinkmeier told Philly.com. “And the money isn’t even hers, it’s for the Girl Scout troop.”
Brinkmeier said the incident hasn’t crumbled her daughter’s enthusiasm for selling Girl Scout cookies.
“She obviously thinks it’s wrong that it happened, but she is a trouper,” she said.
Anastasia has received an outpouring of support from neighbors following the incident, with several offering to buy additional cookies or donate money to help recoup her losses, WPVI reports.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
