Puppy theft suspect says latest accusation a misunderstanding
A Crystal Lake woman charged earlier this year with swiping a puppy from a local pet store was at it again Thursday, authorities said, this time stealing three stuffed animals and other items from a gift shop.
Jennifer L. Zulawski, 38, faces a misdemeanor retail theft charge as a result of her arrest Thursday afternoon at Howell's Gifts and More in downtown Crystal Lake, police Cmdr. Dan Dziewior said.
Zulawski, who already is facing a felony retail theft charge over the puppy-napping accusations, later posted a $100 bond to go free pending a April 22 court date at the McHenry County courthouse.
A criminal complaint filed Friday alleges that along with the three stuffed animals Zulawski stole a checkers game, a salt and pepper set and a metal wallet. Combined, the items have a value of less than $150, Dziewior said.
Zulawski on Friday blamed the arrest on a misunderstanding between herself and the store's owner and insisted she never intended to steal.
The incident happened, she said, while she and her children stopped in the store after having ice cream at an attached parlor. She bought one item and handed the bag to one of her children, she said. Unbeknownst to her, she said, that child then stuffed additional items in the bag before the family left the business.
When chased down by the store's owner outside, Zulawski said, she offered to pay for the items several times, but the owner called police instead.
"I've been in trouble before -- I'm not going to say I wasn't -- but this time I wasn't stealing," she said. "If (the owner) had given me 10 seconds to explain, this would not have happened."
Zulawski declined to discuss her arrest in the puppy theft but said that incident combined with Thursday's arrest has left her family devastated.
"My stupidity has gotten me in a lot of trouble, but I did not intend to steal anything from that store," she said.
She is scheduled to be arraigned April 7 on the felony charge filed in connection with allegations she stole a purebred Boston terrier puppy on Jan. 28 from a Petland store in Crystal Lake.
In that case, police said Zulawski used her three children to distract store workers while she stuffed the 9-week-old puppy, priced at $1,099, in her bag. Police recovered the dog at Zulawski's home a day later.
Because of the dog's value, the charge in that case is a Class 4 felony punishable by a maximum one to three years in prison. The charge filed Friday is a Class A misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a $2,500 fine.