Three people are facing theft charges in Lewis County Superior Court for allegedly stealing just under $1,040 in products from a Centralia drug store on Wednesday.
The subjects allegedly entered Rite Aid in the 1200 block of Harrison Avenue just before 3:40 p.m. on Feb. 14 and stole 21 boxes of Flonase, 10 boxes of Zyrtec and about $260 worth of Advil. The total value of the stolen products is estimated “to be at least $1,038.69,” according to court documents.
Surveillance video of the store during the theft reportedly showed two women, identified as Anita Vaduva, 35 of Edmonds, and Isabela Miclescu, 28, hiding the stolen items under their dresses as they and a male suspect, Florin Baldovin-Tomescu, 31, of Kent, left the store.
They reportedly left the area in a silver Ford Explorer, which officers with the Chehalis Police Department located and stopped at Exit 79 on Interstate 5, according to court documents.
Detectives executed a search warrant on the vehicle and found over $5,000 in stolen property, including “additional evidence linking this group to (a) theft in Oregon,” according to court documents.
“Several other thefts with similar modus operandi were noted as occurring along the I-5 corridor and are being investigated to determine if this group was involved,” according to court documents.
At the time of the incident, Vaduva reportedly had an active warrant for retail theft out of Florida that occurred about 30 days prior.
Vaduva, Miclescu and Baldovin-Tomescu were arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail just before 5 p.m. on Feb. 14, according to jail records. The three suspects were charged Feb. 15 with first-degree theft with intent to resell and organized retail theft.
Baldovin-Tomescu’s bail is set at $10,000, Vaduva’s at $15,000, and Miclescu’s at $20,000.
Arraignment hearings are scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 22.
