JAY — A 54-year-old man from Newport turned himself in to police Tuesday night after he saw images of himself on the evening news walking out of the Jay Country Store wearing a vest he did not pay for. Police had released the photos to the media just hours earlier.
Police say Stephen Romprey turned himself in at around 11:45 p.m.
An employee of the Jay Country Store contacted police back on January 7, saying that surveillance footage from the night before showed a man trying on a vest and leaving without paying. Employees working at the time told police he had come in asking to use the bathroom and saying that he was going to purchase gas.
After leaving the bathroom, he was recorded trying on several jackets before deciding on the vest. He eventually kept the vest on, put his jacket back on, and walked out without further conversation with the employees.
The surveillance footage also showed him leaving in a black Jeep Cherokee with Vermont plates. The photos were shown on a news broadcast Tuesday, and police say that Romprey turned himself in after seeing the photos.
Whether Romprey intentionally left the Jay Country Store without paying for the vest, or it was just an honest mistake, he will have to appear in Orleans County Court on February 24 to answer to the charge of petit larceny.
