Montco CVS Theft Suspect Arrested In Bucks County Months After Crime

LOWER MORELAND, PA — A Philadelphia man was arrested by Lower Moreland Township Police earlier this week in connection with a retail theft that took place at a CVS pharmacy in this eastern Montgomery County community back in the summer.

Lower Moreland Police said they took custody of Justin Zampitella, 39, on Monday after it was discovered he was being held at the correctional facility in neighboring Bucks County on unrelated charges.

Police records show that a criminal arrest warrant had been issued for Zampitella back in late June in connection with a retail theft at the CVS pharmacy at 670 Welsh Road in the Huntingdon Valley section of Lower Moreland Township.

According to a police account, officers were dispatched to the CVS just after 5 p.m. on June 20 for a reported retail theft in progress.

The store manager told police a man left the store with numerous items he never paid for, a theft that ended up having a value of more than $725.

The man was later identified as Zampitella.

Police said that after he fled the store, Zampitella got into a Jeep Compass, which was later determined to be driven by his mother.

Officers later stopped the Jeep along southbound Huntingdon Pike, at which time Zampitella got out of the back seat and fled on foot eastbound down Welsh Road, according to a police report.

Police questioned the mother who said she drove her son and his girlfriend to the CVS and waited in the parking lot for them, surprised when Zampitella ran out of the store, quickly got in the car and told her to drive off.

The mother said she believed the rushed exit may have had to do with a fight her son and his girlfriend had gotten into earlier in the day, according to police.

Officers who spoke with the mother saw bags in the back seat of the car that resembled those described by the CVS store manager as having been used in the theft.

The girlfriend, whose name was not released, was also believed to have stolen items from the store during the incident. Police were unable to track down the woman and it was not immediately clear if criminal charges had been filed against her.

The stole items, which totaled $728.46, were later returned to CVS.

Court records in the case show that Zampitella was arraigned just a couple of hours after his arrest on Nov. 28 before Magisterial District Court Judge Juanita Price.

He is being charged with counts of retail theft, receiving stolen property and other misdemeanors.

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Dec. 12 before Magisterial District Court Judge Jay S. Friedenberg.

Court records show that unsecured bail was set in the amount of $1,500.

Court records out of neighboring Bucks County show that Zampitella was charged in Bensalem Township with drug-related counts, and he was held over for trial on those charges following a preliminary hearing.

Records show trial in the Bucks County case was originally scheduled for May but that the proceeding has since been pushed to this coming January.

Records confirm that a bench warrant hearing took place on Nov. 28 in Bucks County regarding the arrest from Lower Moreland Township, Montgomery County.