Cops: Greenlawn woman charged in purse theft during Christmas Eve Mass
Tara Costello and Michael Cuozzo were arrested Tuesday and charged with multiple credit card thefts, police said. Credit: SCPD
A Greenlawn woman accused of stealing a purse during a Christmas Eve Mass at St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church was arrested Tuesday afternoon, police said.
Tara Costello, 45, and her partner, Michael Cuozzo, 51, have been charged in multiple credit card thefts, Suffolk County police said in a news release.
The parish pastor hopes a better future lies ahead for the pair, said the Rev. Peter F. Kaczmarek. “If the people had come to us, we would have tried to help … We do try to meet some immediate needs,” such as helping secure heating oil, he said.
“Everybody walks into church, saints and sinners too.”
The couple was arrested at their Greenlawn home on New Year's Day, police said. They are charged with fourth-degree grand larceny in connection with stealing purses or wallets containing credit cards at Blackstone Steakhouse in Melville and McKeown's Pub in Huntington on Dec. 23, as well as at Jenny Craig in Huntington Station on Dec. 26.
Costello was charged with an additional count of fourth-degree grand larceny and accused of stealing a purse with credit cards from a St. Francis parishioner on Dec. 24, as well as four counts of fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property for allegedly using the stolen credit cards, the release said.
Cuozzo is not charged in connection with the church theft, police said.
They were released on bail, police said.
Neither the police nor the district attorney offered details about what led to the arrest of the couple or whether they were investigating a second woman seen in a video of the theft.
The pastor said video from a nearby CVS caught the same thieves; the time stamps showed that one of their first actions was charging gift cards.
Since the Christmas Eve theft, the church has warned parishioners to safeguard their valuables and taken other measures.
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