By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, February 14, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page B01

Emerson police called in the Bergen County Police Department canine unit Wednesday to catch a 64-year-old New York State woman who stole three slippers and a house coat from a clothing store and eluded police and the store owner, authorities said.
Robert Malto, the 67-year-old owner of Wendy Drew Inc., a women’s clothing store at 368 Kinderkamack Road, said Garfinkel came in shortly before noon, wearing a full-length mink coat.
“As she left the store, my wife called my attention to the fact that a duster a house coat was hanging beneath the mink,” Malto said. “You couldn’t miss it. She left the store quickly and walked at a very fast pace across the parking lot. “
Malto said he thought Garfinkel was going to her car, and he and a store manager chased after her.
“She turned around and shouted, `Why are you following me? Why are you after me? ” Malto said.
Garfinkel ran behind the department store, dropped three slippers, and ran through the woods onto Kinderkamack Road, then Highland Avenue, with Malto and the store manager in pursuit, Malto said.
“Just as police came, she disappeared from our view,” he said.
Police saw her on Kinderkamack, then on Highland Avenue and Orchard Street, before losing her in the back yards, a police spokesman said.
County Police Officer Robert DiPalma and his dog, Connie, caught Garfinkel hiding behind the bushes about 30 minutes after the chase began.

Keywords: EMERSON; STORE; WOMAN; SHOPLIFTING

ID: 17333076 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)