A guy wearing a Phillies shirt and flip-flops – using his cellphone – paced around a Delaware County Wawa store for about two hours before swiping a USO donation jar and fleeing in his Lexus SUV, said Glenolden Borough Police.
Surveillance cameras captured David Melanchuk inside the convenience store at N MacDade Boulevard and Ashland Avenue on Aug. 25, said an affidavit of probable cause.
Shortly after police released surveillance images from the heist on Wednesday, tips starting coming in identifying Melanchuk, said police. An officer went to the 58-year-old’s Clifton Heights apartment Wednesday afternoon where Melanchuk admitted to the theft and to being the man caught on video.
Police didn’t reveal if Melanchuk told them why he took the charity jar.
A judge arraigned Melanchuk on theft and receiving stolen property charges on Wednesday afternoon and set bail at $20,000. It wasn’t clear if Melanchuk had a lawyer.
This isn’t Melanchuk’s first run-in with the law. In the past, Melanchuk pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct/fighting and failure to obey traffic signal, according to court records.
