Shoplifting Cop Drops Chris Christie Name To Wriggle Out Of Charges

An allegedly shoplifting cop in Pennsylvania on January 8 may have tried to wriggle out of the charges by invoking the name of his boss — New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

The incident reportedly occurred on January 8, but the story has surfaced only today, causing yet another headache for the embattled Chris Christie who has not been able to shake charges that he improperly bullied political opponents, including shutting down lanes on the George Washington bridge so that Fort Lee, New Jersey — whose mayor had opposed Christie — would suffer crippling traffic tie-ups.

Chris Christie has repeatedly denied knowing anything about the lane closures. Last week, a former Christie ally said in a letter that the governor did know and that “evidence exists” to prove it. The story was published in The New York Times and Chris Christie has repeatedly blasted the Times reporting as inaccurate.

The new story about the shoplifting cop does not directly reflect on Christie, but New Jersey State Trooper William Carvounis was a member of the Chris Christie security detail — basically making him a Chris Christie bodyguard — so at the very least, it creates another embarrassment for Christie at a time when the expected 2016 Republican presidential hopeful really doesn’t need one.

In a recent poll pitting Chris Christie against prospective Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016, Christie trailed by 16 percentage points.

Carvounis was caught shoplifting at sporting good store in Tilden Township, Pennsylvania. As he walked up and down the aisles of Cabela’s a store which specializes in outdoorsmanship and camping equipment, he stuffed handgun grips, a magazine for handgun ammunition and other items in his pockets, according to a Tilden police officer’s report.

He also put a hat on his head and wore it as if it were his own, and switched a $29.99 binocular strap into a box for another item marked $19.99. he paid for some items at the checkout, but did not offer to pay for the items in his pockets or the hat on his head.

The total value of the goods the shoplifting cop allegedly attempted to pilfer was $267.38.

When confronted by a police officer, he said, “Do you know who my boss is?”

“It was, more or less, ‘Look, I’ve got a good job, I’m on the governor’s security detail, I don’t want to lose my job,’ along those lines,” Tilden Police Chief William McEllroy told the Associated Press.

But the cop has reportedly been suspended over the shoplifting allegations already.

McEllroy said that Carvounis did not explicitly ask to be let off without charges because of his connection to Christie. Rather, it was a case of, “one cop asking another cop for a break multiple times.”

An attorney for the shoplifting cop denies that Carvounis invoked Christie’s name in an attempt to get special treatment. Charles Sciarra also denied that the cop was, in fact, shoplifting at all.