Police: Pa. woman put stolen check in church plate

[October 07, 2009]  NEW BRIGHTON, Pa. (AP) -- Police said a woman put a forged $50 check in a church offering plate and stole a woman's wallet from a pew in the same western Pennsylvania church.

New Brighton police Chief Charles Van Fossan said Tuesday that police were still searching for a 20-year-old woman. She allegedly committed the crimes at First Presbyterian Church in New Brighton on Sunday.

Police said the offering check was from a previously stolen checkbook.

The woman used a credit card from the stolen wallet to buy about $200 worth of merchandise from a dollar store and a convenience store. Police said the woman also tried to use a credit card stolen from another church to get a $16,000 cash advance that a bank refused to issue.

New Brighton is about 25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

[Associated Press]

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