A Villager contends she couldn’t have committed a theft because she was getting a manicure.
Kathleen Lepsik, 71, of the Village of Hawkins, was arrested in December on the suspicion she had stolen merchandise from KB Home & Garden at Magnolia Plaza.
She is being represented by the Bogin, Munns & Munns law firm and this past week, a lawyer from the firm officially filed a “Notice of Intent to Rely on Alibi,” in Sumter County Court.
A manager at KB Home & Garden confronted Lepsik on Nov. 22 in the middle of the parking lot, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department. It was suspected that the Ohio native had gone into the store and took a “Yard Sale” sign and placed it by a gate. Lepsik walked out the front door and then over to the gate where she retrieved the “Yard Sale” sign. She began walking to her car with the sign. After she was confronted, Lepsik got in her car and drove away.
Store personnel had been on the lookout for Lepsik, as she had been suspected of similar crimes.
KB Home & Garden management heard that the mystery shoplifter had been selling the stolen merchandise on Facebook Marketplace. They cross-referenced Lepsik’s Facebook page and her property record. The store manager picked Lepsik out of a photo lineup.
However, Lepsik says she has an alibi.
She maintains that on the date and time of the crime, she was having her nails done at the AvA Nails salon, also at Magnolia Plaza. Lepsik said she had a manicure and pedicure appointment. She has one witness, “Victor,” who declined to provide his last name.
A pre-trial conference in her case is set for Feb. 4.
