Crime & Safety
Repeat Shoplifter Philip Crouse Charged With New Felony
Crouse -- who has already accumulated three theft convictions this year -- is accused of receiving a stolen credit card and using it to buy gas

Repeat shoplifter Philip Crouse was arraigned on his newest charges -- receiving stolen property and misusing a credit card -- Tuesday in .
Crouse -- a man who was -- .
This time, Crouse, 49, of Painesville, is accused of stealing from a car in the Heinen's parking lot, Mentor Police Lt. Tom Powers said.
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On June 18, a Heinen's employee found her wallet had been stolen from her car and its credit card used at a nearby gas station. The woman went to the gas station and found her wallet -- sans her money -- in a garbage can.
When police checked the security camera footage from the gas station, one of the detectives recognized Crouse, Powers said.
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Crouse turned himself in to the Lake County Sheriff's Office, who also suspect him of stealing from vehicles.
Judge John Trebets set Crouse's bond at $40,000, which was not posted. His next court hearing is scheduled for July 16.
Crouse has a lengthy history of grand and petty theft. He was arrested in 2004 and charged with counts of theft, burglary and breaking and entering and disrupting public service in Lake County Court of Common Pleas.
A jury convicted him and he was sentenced to five years in prison.
However, he got back into trouble when he was released. He was convicted of theft twice in 2011 in Painesville Municipal Court.
Crouse also pleaded guilty to , CVS and earlier this year in and was sentenced to six months in jail.
However, the sentence was later modified and the balance of his jail term was suspended after two months, according to online municipal court records.
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