26-year-old Leah Ann Vick, of Auxier, Kentucky, is currently wanted by police on a serious charge of felony theft by unlawful taking. Her crime was to steal Girl Scout cookies, worth $15,000, and not just from her own troop either. She probably stole cookies intended for neighboring troops as well.
As reported by Mashable, the weird thing about it is that according to records, Vick hasn’t sold a single cookie of the stash that she stole.
That report showed a little admiration for someone who managed to get all the treats she wanted, for free. The Cookie Monster would be impressed, for sure.
Up to 10 years in prison for stealing cookies
The Appalachian News-Express quotes District Attorney Rick Bartley as saying Vick was formally indicted by a Pike County jury on the charge. She could face up to 10 years behind bars – if authorities can find her, that is. Police believe Vick had planned her crime carefully and is now actively evading law enforcement as their search for the Girl Scout cookie thief continues.
Girl Scout cookies handed out on trust
According to Bartley, Vick originally stole the cookies on February 1. She reportedly collected a large order of cookies for her own Wilderness Road chapter, and possibly some orders belonging to other Girl Scout troops in Pikesville, Ky. Apparently, local troops do not normally make payment up front, and while Vick was supposed to return to make payment for the cookies once they were sold, she never returned. Vick's troop says they have no record of her dropping off the cookies for her girls to sell and, of course, no sales were ever made.
Bartley said Vick definitely collected the cookies but they have no idea what she did with them all. Since she took the Girl Scout stash and didn’t pay for the order, no one has been able to contact Vick.
According to authorities, they have since discovered that while Vick has been on the lam she has been using various different addresses in eastern Kentucky. This adds to law enforcement’s problems in trying to track her down.
Girl Scout held up at gunpoint selling cookies
The New York Post reports that there was a related, but far more disturbing, theft from a Girl Scout in California in February this year. A 12-year-old Girl Scout from Union and her mother were reportedly held up at gunpoint outside a Safeway supermarket while selling cookies. That story had a happy ending, however, when the Union City Police Department managed to raise $1,000 for the young girl’s troop.