By Jim Smith

Butler Eagle Staff Writer

SLIPPERY ROCK — A trio of suspected distraction thieves are accused of making off with more than $2,000 in gold rings from a jewelry store.

A mother and daughter are among the suspects in the theft that occurred one week before Christmas at Taggart’s Jewelry on South Main Street in Slippery Rock.

Borough police on Sunday arrested Lynne Ann Parenti, 59, of Harrisville on a list of felonies in the investigation.

Police still are looking for the other two suspects, Gina M. Parenti, 30, and her boyfriend, Richard C. Jamison Jr., 31, both of Butler, who are wanted on arrest warrants.

Investigators believe the defendants were working together about noon Dec. 18 when they walked into Taggart’s Jewelry. They asked to see rings, police said.

Store owner Barbara Trauterman brought out ring display boards that she placed on the counter.

Police say that while one of the suspects distracted Trauterman, the other two would periodically drop the rings that were on the display boards.

“As one (suspect) would distract Trauterman’s attention in another direction, another (suspect) would bend down and pick the ring up and place it in their pocket,” according to court documents.

The dropped ring ploy was used four times, police said.

It wasn’t until three hours later that the victim discovered the four gold band rings, inlaid with diamonds, gone. The rings are valued at a combined $2,200

Also missing and presumed stolen was a silver snowflake necklace, worth $150, that was on a display board when the suspects were in the store.

The store’s surveillance system captured the crime and helped investigators identify the defendants.

Police arrested the elder Parenti, who was arraigned by District Judge Sue Haggerty on Sunday. At her arraignment, Parenti said she is a widow and the mother of five children.

She is employed at a Slippery Rock personal care home.

Haggerty arraigned the defendant on felony charges of theft, receiving stolen property, retail theft, and conspiracy to commit all of those crimes.

Her alleged accomplices face the same charges. Lynne Parenti is free on $5,000 bail.