"It's a big break in this case based on the TV coverage the other day, we probably had about 15 calls identifying the girl as the person who perpetrated the theft and also used the card at Genuardi's," Lt. William F. Clark of the Springfield Police said.
Police say she's the crafty thief who engineered a plot whereby she wouldn't steal a woman's pocketbook because all the cards would be reported stolen before she could use them. Instead, they say she would take just one card so the victim wouldn't know right away.
She then made her way into a Genuardi's supermarket on Baltimore Pike in Springfield and bought a whole slew of gift cards which she could then use at her leisure, not having to worry about them being cancelled.
"We contacted her family and she presented herself at the station here about 3:00 today and we charged her with various crimes," Lt. Clark said.
During questioning, Flynn told police she was homeless. Then when magistrate Andrea Puppio told her she needed a good address to consider releasing her on bail, Flynn said she was living with her mom in Collingdale. When the magistrate asked how do you go from being homeless to living with your mom in a manner of minutes, Flynn had no answer.
So far police have only charged her with the credit card theft from a woman who was dining at Panera Bread in Springfield, but they suspect she's involved in similar thefts from about two dozen victims
"It's an ongoing investigation, we're trying to tie it into different things, but we have a lot of work to do; hopefully we'll have more when we come back for the hearing in January," Lt. Clark said.
The judge set Flynn's bail at $30,000 and she is being held at George Hill Correction Facility.
