A Schuylkill County man’s obsession with the New York Giants helped police identify him as person who allegedly stole $50 from a local convenience store by claiming a Skill machine ate his money.
State Police allege Mark Macaluso, 45, of Mahanoy City entered a Conoco on Morea Rd. around 6:30 a.m. on Feb. 25, purchased lottery tickets, and left the business. Police say he returned approximately 15 minutes later, went directly to the store’s Skill games, and told an employee that one of the machines had taken $50 from him.
The employee gave Macaluso $50 to reimburse him, and he exited the store, police say.
Following the interaction, police say the employee reviewed surveillance footage and discovered Macaluso never put any money into the Skill games machine. The company that maintains the machines subsequently conducted a physical count on the machine in question, which showed no $50 deposit had been made that day, police say.
When police reviewed the store’s surveillance footage, they observed the suspect to be a heavyset man with reddish hair and a partial beard, wearing a New York Giants hat and sweatshirt, police say.
On March 16, police say they received three tips from other police identifying the man in the Giants gear as Macaluso.
To confirm his identity, police say they compared the surveillance footage against Macaluso’s driver’s license photo and past booking photos, finding a match. Cementing the identification, police say they reviewed Macaluso’s Facebook profile, which contained photos matching the man in the store, as well as multiple posts about the Giants.
Attempts to contact Macaluso went unanswered. He’s been ordered to appear at a preliminary hearing to answer to misdemeanor charges of theft and receiving stolen property.
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