Judge Sets Trial Date For Pantry Theft Case

After a few more weeks of consideration, accused food pantry thief Adam Straface has again said no to a plea offer from the Westchester County District Attorney's office.

Straface, who was arrested in February and charged with stealing food and clothing from the , appeared in court Tuesday to set a trial date to fight a single misdemeanor charge of petit larceny. His attorney, Russell Smith, told Judge Ronald Bianchi that the offer from the district attorney's office to plead guilty to that count has not changed and that his client has not accepted it.

William D'Imperio, Florence D'Imperio, Jack Arcara, Joseph Arcara and Sherryl Toplyn—the five other employees charged in the case—have already pleaded guilty to a single count of petit larceny. They have each been ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and a $205 surcharge.

If convicted by a jury Straface could face probation or even jail time. His trial date was set for Oct. 19, pushing it back more than two months from the original date of Aug. 9, which

According to his original arrest report, Straface admitted to police that he and Joseph Arcara stole multiple food and clothing items from the food pantry on Dec. 20, 2010.

Straface gave police a gray long-sleeved Andy Warhol shirt and a pair of Ralph Lauren cargo shorts, according to his arrest report. Other defendants were charged with taking either food items or shoes from the pantry on separate dates.

Originally, Straface faced the least serious charges of the six defendants. Joseph Arcara and Florence D’Imperio had faced . All other defendants had faced multiple counts of petit larceny while Straface was charged with only one.

All six of the accused had been working for the town to some extent at the time of their arrests. Florence D’Imperio had worked part-time as Harrison Meals on Wheels treasurer but resigned in February. Toplyn had worked as a part-time clerical worker and also resigned soon after her arrest. William D’Imperio was a supervisor in the Harrison Parks Department, but  from town employment on March 17. The , who were laborers in the parks department, on March 3.

The  delivers food to about 100 low-income Harrison families and accepts cash donations from local organizations on an on-going basis.