Newlyweds Stole Reception Food 3 Hours Before Guests Arrived

By Cynthia Hsu, Esq. on August 26, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Thinking about combating those high wedding costs? Steal some food!

That's what Brittany Lurch, 22, and Arthur Phillips, 32, did. The two newlyweds stole reception food hours before their scheduled wedding reception. Unfortunately, their money-saving efforts were foiled by police and they were arrested and charged with misdemeanor counts of retail theft.

Unfortunately, their arrest meant that they were unable to attend their own wedding reception.

Though, it does mean that they might be spending some quality time together defending against the criminal charges.

Phillips and Lurch were married on August 18th. Their wedding reception was set for 5:30 p.m. last Saturday in Centre Hall, Pennsylvania, according to the Centre Daily Times.

They strolled into a local supermarket that same afternoon at around 2 p.m., where they loaded up a cart full of food. Surveillance video shows the couple taking the food out to the car without paying, the Centre Daily Times reports.

When police caught up with the two newlyweds, they said had taken the food to feed guests at their reception.

A police search of the couple's car also turned up a glass pipe with some traces of marijuana.

Now they're also facing another charge of possessing drug paraphernalia.

It seems that their arrest is likely going to teach them two lessons: don't shoplift food, and don't do drugs or keep drug paraphernalia in your car.

After all, shoplifting something small like a stick of gum is one thing. Shoplifting $1,000 worth of groceries is in a category of its own.

Did they not think somebody would notice them rolling their likely overflowing shopping cart out of the supermarket before paying? A lumbering shopping cart isn't exactly the easiest thing to conceal.

And, one can only wonder if they were able to tell their reception guests that they were arrested and unable to make their own reception.

One thing is for sure: do not be like the newlyweds who stole reception food. Brittany Lurch and Arthur Phillips III might have thought they were saving a few bucks by shoplifting. But, there are simpler ways to cut down on wedding reception costs that won't get you arrested.

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