A probationer accused of using her kids to swipe cash from tip jars in businesses throughout Riverside County failed to appear for her arraignment Tuesday, prompting a judge to issue a warrant for her arrest.
LaJuana Evadne Phillips, 35, of Perris was arrested in January following an investigation by Corona police and other agencies.
Phillips is charged with four counts each of petty theft and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
When her case was called Tuesday morning at the Riverside Hall of Justice, the defendant was nowhere to be found, at which point Superior Court Judge Tamara Wagner signed a bench warrant for Phillips’ arrest.
According to Corona police, in mid-January, the defendant and one of her children entered a business on Lincoln Avenue, and while the clerk was distracted, Phillips allegedly prodded the youth, whose identity was not released, to snatch money from the tip jar on the counter.
Other agencies, including the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, were notified of similar tip jar thefts in Lake Elsinore, Murrieta and Temecula, police said.
Eventually, investigators tied Phillips to each of the alleged thefts.
Thanks to information posted to social media, Phillips was tracked down and arrested without a struggle on Jan. 23. She immediately posted $5,000 bail and was released from custody.
According to San Bernardino County Superior Court records, the defendant has a prior misdemeanor theft conviction from 2016. She has no documented priors in Riverside County.