Theft at New York Children’s Museum

Mary Elliott, 50, charged with grand larceny. Photo courtesy of newsday.com

Mary Elliott, a 50-year-old woman from Hauppauge, New York, was arrested yesterday on theft charges at the Long Island Children’s Museum. Elliott was charged with grand larceny after wallets containing cash and credit cards were taken from the coat room of the children’s museum. She will face two counts of fourth-degree grand larceny.

Elliott allegedly entered the museum as a visitor on Monday around 3 p.m. before scouring the coat check room for  handbags and pocketbooks, collecting cash and credit cards. After an initial investigation, Elliott was arrested at her home on Tuesday.

Long Island is rich in museums, with the Vanderbilt Museum and the Heckscher Museum of Art located not far from Hauppauge. Further east are the Parrish Art Museum and the Pollock-Krasner House and Studio. No word on whether those institutions will beef up security after the theft.