Lynn woman accused of stealing from teachers

LYNN – A judge set $10,000 cash bail for a city woman with an extensive larceny record who police said admitted to visiting Cobbett Elementary School, stealing debit and credit cards from two teachers.Meanwhile, police reported recovering dozens of pocketbooks and wallets and other possible stolen merchandise, and are looking for other victims.”I admit 76 convictions is a shocking number of convictions but I note they are mostly on single dockets,” court-appointed defense attorney Meredith Reeves told the court Wednesday.Leilani M. Ray, 40, of 8 Chase St. #8, was arrested and charged with credit card fraud under $250, two counts; larceny from a building, two counts; forgery of a document; and several warrants at 10:17 a.m. Wednesday.Police note Ray had been charged with 160 offenses since 1995, and had outstanding warrants from Federal and District Courts with multiple larceny and related charges, according to a report by Lynn Police Officer Paul Galatis.Police received a report that two teachers at Cobbett had reported their credit and debit cards were taken from their pocketbooks in their classrooms last Thursday. Police learned the cards had been used at Walmart on the Lynnway that same morning to purchase Game of Thrones DVDs, a $100 American Express giftcard, and a DVD of The Hobbit, Galatis reported.Surveillance video showed the suspect purchasing the items then getting into a cab. The cab driver told police he had dropped the suspect at the Chase Street home and described her as a short, heavy-set woman wearing a blond wig. Both teachers saw the surveillance photos and separately identified the suspect as somebody who had spoken with them in the Cobbett hallways the morning they reported the thefts.Police identified Ray – who was known as a Ms. Chambers – as a suspect through a database and recalled being at her apartment recently for an unrelated incident, Galatis reported.”I looked at this female and said ?hi, Ms. Chambers,'” Galatis reported. “She was talking on the phone and was advised we had warrants for her arrest. She responded to the person on the phone by saying she was going to jail.”Police found the teachers’ stolen credit and debit cards, a wig, glasses and scarf consistent with the suspect in the surveillance video, and several empty wallets with identification cards. Ray admitted to stealing a wallet from Cobbett, Galatis reported.Judge Joseph Jennings noted a 15-page Board of Parole record, multiple past larcenies and open larceny cases, and the open warrants in ordering $10,000 cash bail.Ray is scheduled to return to court April 11.Meanwhile, Lynn Police distributed a photo of potentially stolen materials recovered in Ray’s home.”Police are asking people who believe they may have been a victim to this type of crime and recognizes their belongings to call Detective Paul Galatis at 781-477-4329 to recover their items.”Police said anyone with any information is encouraged to contact the Lynn Police Department at 781-595-2000 or they can text a tip to Lynn Police, anyone with a cell phone can send an anonymous tip to the Lynn Police Department by texting the word tiplynn and the tip information to tip411 or 847411. Anonymous web tips can also be submitted right from the Police Department’s website at lynnpolice.org and clicking the submit tip icon.Cyrus Moulton can be reached at [email protected].