Frazer police accused an Ohio man of stealing $22,000 worth of perfume and designer clothing from Macy’s after they arrested him in the parking lot with a garment bag altered to stop security scanners from going off at the registers.
Angelo Aaron Dowdell, 25, of Warren was arrested Tuesday and charged with three counts of retail theft and a count of receiving stolen property, which are all felonies. He also was charged with possessing an instrument of crime, making false reports to law enforcement, obstruction and drug possession.
Dowdell was being detained in the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh in lieu of a $20,000 cash bond. He faces a preliminary hearing July 24 before District Judge David Sosovicka.
According to Dowdell’s arrest papers, Chief Terry Kuhns and Sgt. Aaron Scott responded to the Macy’s department store in the Pittsburgh Mills mall for a report about a “garment bag guy” — a reference to a man walking around the store with a garment bag who was seen shoplifting three previous times.
Kuhns said they were waiting for Dowdell outside after store security personnel told police he left and was driving a silver Ford Escape.
Dowdell was detained while walking to the SUV carrying the bag, which according to police was lined with duct tape to prevent the security tags attached to clothing from setting off the detection scanners.
After getting a search warrant for the vehicle, police found $7,000 worth of stolen Polo, Gap and Nike clothing that were still on store hangers, the complaint said. Several “nuggets” of marijuana were found in the cup holder on the SUV door, the complaint said.
Store officials told police that Dowdell stole from the store on May 25, June 13 and June 15. Each time he walked away with $5,000 worth of perfume, according to the complaint.
Police said Dowdell gave them several false names when he was asked to identify himself, but they were able to learn his name through an electronic fingerprinting system called Live Scan.
He was wanted in three counties in Ohio, and there was an active warrant in Allegheny County for theft, gun and escape charges, investigators said.
The same day Frazer police arrested Dowdell, police in Robinson charged him with a felony count of retail theft.
That charge was filed Thursday, July 13, but a preliminary hearing before District Judge Carla M. Swearingen-Batch has not yet been scheduled, according to court records.
On May 22, an Allegheny County district judge ordered Dowdell to stand trial on four felony counts, two each of receiving stolen property and counts of illegal possession of a firearm and carrying a firearm without a license that were filed by Robinson police.
Dowdell did not appear for his formal arraignment on the charges, according to the court docket.
Last July, the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office filed a felony count of escape against Dowdell. During a preliminary hearing, he was ordered to stand trial on the charge but did not appear in court in November for formal arraignment, according to court records.
