A tearful Stephanie Paparo apologized and promised to pay back the $2,300 she took when Jim Duffy dropped his money inside a local Wawa.
When she arrived for her preliminary hearing today in Secane, Delaware County, Pa., NBC10's Doug Shimell asked Paparo if she had anything to say to Duffy.
"Not now," Paparo, 28, answered.
A surveillance camera caught the entire episode -- Duffy dropping the money while he was up at the counter inside the store, and Paparo picking it up and then quickly leaving.
When police sent out the surveillance video asking for the public's help in identifying the woman in the video, a tip led to Paparo's arrest. Police say she confessed to the crime and admitted she'd spent some of the money on her three kids and gave the rest to her boyfriend.
"She did not set out to steal something," Public Defender Harris Resnick told Shimell. "She picked up property that was lost or misplaced."
The judge reduced Paparo's charge to theft of lost property instead of taking stolen property.
Paparo waived her trial and agreed to pay back all the money to Duffy, who had been saving up to buy a car. After her court appearance, Paparo apologized to Duffy, who was grateful.
"She said that she was very sorry for what she did and she apologized and she was crying and I told she's gonna be alright," Duffy said.
