Newlyweds Busted Trying To Shoplift $1049 In Groceries For Their Wedding Reception

A Pennsylvania couple married a week ago allegedly attempted to shoplift more than $1000 of merchandise from a supermarket--items they planned to use for their wedding reception last Friday afternoon.

Brittany Lurch, 22, and Arthur Phillips, 32, were arrested after trying to walk out of a Wegmans with goods valued at $1,049.26, according to the Patton Township Police Department. The newlyweds, pictured in the above mug shots, were collared after wheeling the hot merchandise out of the store in two shopping carts to their waiting Hyundai.

Phillips told arresting officers that the merchadise was “for their wedding reception” later that afternoon, according to a criminal complaint excerpted here. Lurch, a mother of two, and Phillips were wed a day earlier, on August 18.

While the complaint does not provide an itemized list of goods boosted from Wegman’s, a cop reported that, “the suspects had ordered numerous items from the seafood department.” A source familiar with the items found in the couple’s carts told TSG that the stolen merch included a shrimp platter ($115); two spiral hams ($70); a vegetable tray ($50); appetizer trays; eggs; a punch bowl; forks; spoons; soda; dinnerware for eight; turkey; toothbrushes; a polo shirt; and Gillette Fusion razor blades.

Before bonding out, the newlyweds briefly lived under the same roof at the Centre County jail, where they were booked on misdemeanor theft and receiving stolen property charges.