Woman Arrested With More Than $2,500 Worth of Macy's Merchandise

A Milwaukee woman arrested in Wauwatosa caught a break Monday when the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office decided not to try to pin a felony theft charge on her, settling for a Class A misdemeanor.

Wauwatosa police had sought a felony charge against 41-year-old Mary Jo Ellen Hoeft after she was caught Friday trying to steal 67 items of clothing and jewelry with a total retail value of $2,547.68 from at .

Under the statutes, $2,500 is the threshold for property value in a theft to constitute a felony.

Hoeft is likely bound for prison anyway, since she was also found to have a warrant for violating parole, and her most recent charge comes with an enhancement as a repeat offender.

According to police reports:

At 3:14 p.m. Friday, police were called to Macy’s to arrest Hoeft after she was detained by Macy's security staff.

She was tabbed as suspicious when a clerk saw her carry a bracelet out of the jewelry section, and he alerted security.

Hoeft was watched on camera and trailed by a security officer as she went from department to department throughout the store with a shopping cart, selecting items, taking them into fitting rooms, removing the anti-theft sensors and filling bag after bag with goods.

She then headed for the exit, parked her cart, picked up her bags and walked out. She was stopped immediately and brought back to the loss-prevention office.

In a statement to police, Hoeft said she had been going to Macy’s once or twice a week for the past 10 years to steal merchandise, and that she thought she could have sold the goods she was taking Friday for about $300 to friends of hers. She said intended to use the money to pay her rent.

In her matter-of-fact admission that she was making a living by theft for a decade, she did not mention that she has not always gotten away with it and has spent considerable time as a guest of the state. Hoeft has numerous convictions for theft and one for felony auto theft on her record.

In other recent incidents:

Sunday

At 10:30 a.m., a Milwaukee man reported that some time since 7 p.m. Saturday someone had smashed a window in his Jeep and stolen his briefcase and contents while it was parked at , 10842 Blue Mound Rd. He said he and his girlfriend had left Mo’s at 8 p.m. in another vehicle and he had left his Jeep overnight. He lost his leather briefcase, four textbooks and a digital camera, altogether worth about $470. The police report referred to two other smash and grab thefts that night from vehicles parked at motel, 11021 W. North Ave. In those incidents, two men driving a white cargo van were spotted.

Friday

A teacher at , 800 Glenview Ave., reported that some time between 11 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. someone stole two wallets from her purse while it had been hidden in her unlocked office. One of her stolen credit cards was used to make three fraudulent purchases at area stores.

At 6:11 p.m., police were called to Macy’s at Mayfair Mall on a report of a grab and run theft by a woman who fled with three men. Video showed one of the men holding the door of a car open for her, another at the wheel, and the third holding open Macy’s door as the woman sprinted through with her arms loaded with Polo swimming trunks.