A homeless couple face felony charges after allegedly using three cars belonging to other people without permission over the span of two days this month, according to police.
One of the cars was crashed, another was painted green in an effort to disguise it after it ran out of gas and the third ended up with its rear window smashed, and a coffee table sticking out of it, police said.
Charged are Dominic V. Ciufo, 25, and 18-year-old Gabrielle L. Bentzoni, neither of whom had an address to list in court records.
The alleged joy-ride spree began Sunday, and police caught up with the couple early Tuesday, records say.
Pennsylvania State Police at Belfast said they responded about 2:35 a.m. Tuesday to a home on School Street in Martins Creek, Lower Mount Bethel Township, for the report of someone stopping and asking the resident to buy a blow torch for $10 to pay for gas.
Police said they spotted a black Pontiac sedan with two occupants identified as Ciufo and Bentzoni. Neither was able to identify the owner, and troopers were unable to contact the owner, records say. The pair were suspects in other thefts of vehicles, and were taken into custody and driven to the Belfast barracks, according to court records.
The Pontiac is the one with the coffee table protruding from the shattered rear window, police said.
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Bentzoni laid out for police how they came into possession of the three cars in two days, according to court records:
She and Ciufo were staying with the owner of a green Dodge Stratus that they took without permission, and which Ciufo crashed. The two fled into the woods, and the car was found Sunday. They made their way to a friend’s house in East Bangor, where Bentzoni found a red Volkswagen sedan with the keys in the ashtray; they drove it until it broke down. Bentzoni then painted a portion of that one green in an attempt to disguise it.
Ciufo and Bentzoni were arraigned Tuesday morning before District Judge Alicia Rose Zito, with Ciufo facing two felony counts of theft, felony receiving stolen property and misdemeanor unauthorized use of a vehicle. Bentzoni is charged with two felony counts of theft, felony receiving stolen property, two misdemeanor counts of unauthorized use of a vehicle and misdemeanor criminal mischief.
The pair were sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $20,000 bail each, with preliminary hearings tentatively scheduled Feb. 16 before Zito. They remained incarcerated Thursday, court records show.
Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
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