Summit County Sheriff’s deputies have issued warrants for a man and woman they say snatched an elderly woman’s purse at a Green church and then used the victim’s credit cards for a shopping spree. Deputies identified the man and woman as Raymond B. Jarvis, 53, and Michelle L. Wells, 38, both of Lake Township. They have been charged with theft and breaking and entering.
Anyone with information on their whereabouts is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 330-643-8637.
Deputies say a 79-year-old woman set down her purse Dec. 8 inside Queen of Heaven Church in Green before getting in line to receive Communion. A surveillance video showed a man and woman walking toward the pew the elderly woman had just exited. The woman returned to find her purse gone.
The thieves went to Acme and Dollar General and used the woman’s credit cards to make more than $1,000 in purchases, including diapers and cigarettes, according to authorities.
Deputies discovered the man and woman committed similar offenses in other churches, including in Iowa, according to the Summit County Sheriff’s Office.