Teacher made purchases with stolen debit card, Nassau police say
Darcy Restivo, a teacher in the Merrick School District, is charged with credit card theft. Credit: NCPD
A schoolteacher has been charged with grand larceny after she allegedly made purchases with a debit card she stole at Lakeside Elementary School in Merrick, police said.
Darcy Restivo, 49, of East Rockaway, allegedly stole the debit card on June 18 and used it to buy items on June 18 and 19, according to the Nassau District Attorney's Office. She used the card three times to purchase items totaling $535, according to the district attorney's office.
Police said the debit card belonged to another individual, and was not a district-issued card.
Restivo was arrested June 30 and charged with one count of felony grand larceny, three counts of petit larceny, identity theft and criminal possession of stolen property, police said.
She pleaded not guilty at arraignment Monday in First District Court in Hempstead and was released on her own recognizance, the district attorney's office said.
Police say Restivo acknowledged she used the card, according to the district attorney's office.
"It was an accident," she told police, according to the felony complaint. "I found the card in a parking lot. … I swear on my family I didn't know whose it was. I threw it away."
Restivo's attorney, Tim Aldridge of Levittown, could not be immediately reached for comment.
Her next court appearance is Friday.
Craig Schneider is a Long Island native and Stony Brook University alumnus. He joined Newsday as a general assignment reporter in January 2018 after 20 years at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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