Woman accused of using 2 teenage girls to steal items from Oak Brook Macy’s

Bond was set at $10,000 Sept. 12 for a woman with no known address accused of stealing about $3,083 worth of merchandise from the Macy’s department store in Oakbrook Center. authorities said.

Florica Nicolae-Dirivan, 46, is charged with one count each of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, burglary and retail theft, according to a DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office news release. The state had asked for a bond of $150,000.

The juveniles, a 14-year-old female and a 15-year-old female, appeared at a detention hearing where they were released into the custody of their father, according to the release. They are each charged with one count of burglary and one count of retail theft, authorities said.

About 6:15 p.m. Sept. 11, Oak Brook police responded to a call of a retail theft in progress at the Macy’s department store. Nicolae-Dirivan and the juveniles allegedly entered the Macy’s together and as they walked through the store, Nicolae-Dirivan would indicate to the girls which items she was interested in either by pointing at the items or picking them up and then putting them back down, authorities said.

The girls allegedly would then pick up the items, take them to another location in the store and conceal them in a bag located underneath one of the juvenile’s dresses. The three then left the store without paying for the items, at which time police, who were waiting for them outside the store, took them into custody, according to the release.

“The allegations that Ms. Nicolae-Dirivan enlisted two young girls to help her steal more than $3,000 worth of merchandise are extremely disturbing,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in the release. “Last year, retail theft amounted to nearly $35 billion in losses nationwide, according to the National Retail Foundation. These losses are ultimately paid for by consumers, employees, business owners, shareholders and entire communities.”

“This is another example of pro-active policing and utilizing our strong working relationships with loss prevention agents in all of our stores to take a strong stance on addressing retail crimes,” Oak Brook Chief of Police Brian Strockis said in the release. “I want to thank our officers for their daily efforts to keep our community safe, which sends a strong message to those that intend to come to Oak Brook to commit any crime.”

Nicolae-Dirivan’s next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 2 for arraignment. The next court appearance for the juveniles is scheduled for Oct. 26.