Priest accused of shoplifting butter, sofa cover

[January 26, 2010]  WEST CITY (AP) -- A Roman Catholic priest was accused of shoplifting butter and a sofa cover at a Walmart in southern Illinois.

Police arrested 41-year-old the Rev. Steven Poole on Friday. He's charged with two felony theft counts. Investigators said Poole failed to scan a $3.22 container of butter and a $60 sofa cover at a self-checkout. Poole then allegedly went to the store's bedding section, picked up a memory foam mattress and switched the pricing bar code. That caused the $145 item to be scanned for $31.

Allegedly, Poole also possessed a stolen laptop computer power pack.

He's the priest for St. Andrew's Catholic Church in Christopher and St. Mary's Catholic Church in Sesser.

Poole does not have a listed home telephone number, and messages left for him at the churches were not returned.

___

Information from: Benton Evening News, http://www.bentoneveningnews.com/

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.