Deputies Say Woman Steals Christmas Packages While Owner Sits in Jail

(HAMILTON) - A Hamilton woman faces a theft charge after taking packages from a home while the person who lives there was being held in the Steuben County Jail. According to kpcnews.com, Steuben County Sheriff's deputies responded Saturday afternoon to a 911 call reporting a burglary in progress at a residence in the 6000 block of State Road 1. The caller reported a woman wearing a pink hoodie, gray beanie and brown boots loading packages into a black pickup truck. Deputies located the suspect minutes later at a local gas station and identified her as 34-year-old Christine A. Miller of Hamilton. Deputies said Miller was wearing the same clothing described by the caller and still had the items in her truck. Miller told deputies she had permission to take the packages but admitted she had opened them out of curiosity and had also taken a weed whacker from an outbuilding. Deputies found a flashlight, white costume wings and HME jeans among the opened items. When Miller could not provide proof of permission, deputies contacted the homeowner, who is currently locked up in the Steuben County Jail. The homeowner confirmed the property had been taken without authorization. Deputies arrested Miller on a Class A misdemeanor theft charge and returned the items to the residence.