Featured Story

Cops: Woman stole bags while holding child at Safari Adventure

IMG_3768

A Hampton Bays woman has been linked with two separate thefts at a Riverhead children’s play center earlier this month, crimes she allegedly committed while holding a child in her arms, according to Riverhead Town police.

Danielle Cordone, 40, was arrested Wednesday after an investigation into a rash of thefts was conducted at Safari Adventure on Pulaski Street, said police Sgt. Jonathan Devereaux. Both thefts — a purse and a diaper bag — were captured on camera Sept. 5, Sgt. Devereaux said.

Ms. Cordone was apprehended after the town police’s Community Oriented Police Enforcement unit tracked her down, he said.

“We had to identify her,” Sgt. Devereaux said. “We had to locate her through numerous addresses.”

Sgt. Devereaux said Ms. Cordone claims the 5-year-old child she was holding at the time of the thefts was a child she was caring for and not her own child.

Ms. Cordone was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and two counts of petit larceny, all misdemeanors. She was arraigned in town court and released on her own recognizance.

Sgt. Devereaux said other thefts were also reported at the children’s play center, but no charges have been brought against Ms. Cordone regarding those incidents.

[email protected]

File photo: Safari Adventure in Riverhead. (Credit: Kendall Stark)