Bensalem woman charged with attempting a purrfect crime. Her cat-astrophic mistake
What started as a purrfect crime ended in a cat-astrophy for a Bensalem woman.
Madina Sherkulova is facing felony retail theft charges after police allege she smuggled a nearly $600 kitten out of a pet store.
Bensalem police responded June 21 to the Pet Plus in the 1300 block of Bristol Pike for a report of a kit-napping.
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An employee reported that an orange and white British Shorthair kitten — valued at $595 —was stolen from her in-store enclosure sometime before 11 a.m., according to a probable cause affidavit.
When police reviewed store surveillance they saw a woman carrying an oversized black shoulder bag enter the cat enclosure shortly after 10 a.m. Less than 30 seconds later she walked out.
Police allege that the 45-year-old Sherkulova smuggled the cat out of the store in her handbag, a shoplifting technique she has allegedly used before, police said.
As it turned out, police recognized the suspected cat-napper as Sherkulova — who has prior retail theft convictions — had an active arrest warrant for two felony charges, according to the affidavit.
In the earlier case, police allege Sherkulova stole $50 worth of cleaning supplies last August from a Home Depot also in the 1300 block of Bristol Pike. She allegedly concealed the items in a large purse.
After identifying Sherkulova as a suspect, Bensalem police went to her home where they found a kitten matching the one reported stolen, the affidavit said. Police confirmed the feline was the stolen cat by checking its microchip.
Sherkulova was arraigned before District Judge Michael Gallagher on the new felony retail theft charge and felony charges of retail theft and receiving stolen property from the 2024 incident.
She was transferred to Bucks County Correctional Center in lieu of $150,000 bail on the 2025 incident and $75,000 on the 2024 incident. She had no legal representation listed on the docket, as of Thursday.
Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Bucks County woman accused of stealing $600 cat from pet store
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