Betty Lewis, 82 years old, legally blind, was down to her last few hundred dollars when she stopped at a Brighton department store with a longtime friend on Friday and bought a $36 sweater.
Unknown to her, the clerk stole her Sovereign Bank debit card and handed it off to her boyfriend, who in turn went out and bought a $172 pair of sneakers, basically draining Lewis's account, according to police.
"I am devastated on so many levels," Lewis said in an interview at her Boston apartment yesterday. She said the money - about $300 - was the last she had in her checking account until today, when her monthly Social Security check becomes available.
Authorities allege that the cashier at A. J. Wright, 22-year-old Arniya Smith, stole the card from Lewis and gave it to 24-year-old Dennis King. King allegedly went to Cambridge and used it at a supermarket and at the
Smith and King were arraigned yesterday in Brighton Municipal Court, where Judge David T. Donnelly set bail at $10,000 in cash for Smith - who had several outstanding warrants - and $5,000 in cash for King, who has a minimal record, according to prosecutors.
Smith and King pleaded not guilty to charges of larceny over $250 by scheme and larceny of a disabled person or person over 60. Lawyers for the two called the bail excessive and said they will appeal. Smith has two children, as does King, their lawyers said.
Lewis said after shopping at A.J. Wright she went to the neighboring Stop & Shop, where she realized she no longer had her debit card when she tried to pay for some groceries.
Lewis and her friend returned to A.J. Wright, and waited several hours while security personnel investigated. They were interviewed by Boston police detectives after that.
Detective George Foley led the investigation. "She was a nice lady and I felt bad for her," Foley said at the Brighton courthouse yesterday. "She kept saying to me that this was all the money she had."
Police said in court papers that Smith can be seen on surveillance videos sliding the card away from Lewis, and then waving the card in her hand at King, who stepped toward her and took the card during a handshake.
According to authorities, Smith later told police she needed the money to buy milk for her 5-month-old child and to pay for gas so she could get to work in Brighton from her Lowell home.
Smith told police that King was not supposed to use the card to buy sneakers. King, according to the police report, told detectives he no longer has the sneakers - someone stole them from his car when he left the doors unlocked while at a store.
"Oh, I hope that's true," Lewis said when told of King's account.
Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley called the defendants "young people who lack honesty and integrity.
"Who would do this to a woman who is just on life's margin?" he said. "She is trying to get by, and it's all gone now because they were just so greedy, so callous, so uncaring."
A spokeswoman for Sovereign Bank said Lewis can get her money back within 10 days, once she files a claim with the bank.
Lewis wondered how Smith, despite the outstanding warrants, got hired by A.J. Wright and was put in a position of trust at the cash register.
A.J. Wright is a subsidiary of
"We take this incident very seriously and are cooperating fully with law enforcement," the statement said. "We regret that this incident occurred and because this is a police matter, we cannot comment any further."
John Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com.
