Yanna Avis
She should have tried harder — not to get caught.
Filthy-rich Yanna Avis, widow of car-rental tycoon Warren
Avis, was summoned to a Manhattan courtroom Monday after being busted for
allegedly swiping a pair of cheap gloves from discount department store
Loehmann’s.
The French-born, 64-year-old cabaret singer agreed to do a
day of community service after being charged with petit larceny and criminal
possession of stolen property.
The misdemeanor charges against the smoky-voiced chanteuse —
who insisted the arrest was just a big “misunderstanding” — will be dropped if
she stays out of trouble for six months.
Avis, who lives in a luxury co-op on Fifth Avenue at East
76th Street overlooking Central Park, slipped the gloves into her purse at the
Loehmann’s on Seventh Avenue in Chelsea at 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 26, according to
a criminal complaint.
Store detective Tamica Grant “observed the defendant remove
one pair of gloves from a display and conceal the items in a bag. Grant then
observed the defendant outside the store in possession of the property without
paying for it,” reads the complaint, which did not list a price for the gloves.
Defense lawyer Stephen McCarthy, who accompanied Avis to the
Manhattan Criminal Court hearing, insisted the wealthy widow “was the victim of
an inattentive sales girl.”
Avis, he said, was checking out of Loehmann’s with $1,300 of
merchandise when the sales clerk got into a beef with another customer, became
distracted and forgot to ring up the gloves.
“The misunderstanding that resulted in Ms. Avis’ appearance
today has been successfully resolved. The matter has been adjourned to be dismissed
and sealed, upon her offer to complete one day of community service,” McCarthy
said.
Hoping to avoid the media, Avis stayed in the courtroom for
nearly two hours after her appearance, until a court officer kicked her out for
the lunch break.
She left the courthouse with her head covered by a large
scarf, and held an envelope over her face for good measure.
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