Restaurant Thief Janeen Thomas Arrested Again, Twice In Two Days

Janeen Thomas in her latest mugshot. | Photo provided by the Philadelphia Police Department

We were really pulling for her. We really were. But Janeen Thomas has been arrested yet again for alleged misdeeds inside a Philadelphia restaurant.

If her name sounds familiar to you, it’s because Thomas became locally infamous thanks to a string of thefts and other bad behavior inside local eateries in 2015. She was arrested for trying to dine and dash at Vedge. She tried to steal this reporter’s belongings at Chris’ Jazz Cafe. The list goes on and on. She was arrested at least eight times.

But then in February, after being sentenced to five years of probation for her crimes and ordered to participate in drug and alcohol rehab, Thomas called us and said she wanted to publicly apologize for her actions. We were initially pretty skeptical that she wanted to change, but after hearing her out, it sounded like she was on the right track. Until now.

Thomas somehow managed to get herself arrested twice in a two-day period earlier this month.

On July 7th, she was arrested in University City early in the day and cited for drunk and disorderly conduct. The exact circumstances surrounding that arrest are unclear.

Then, one day later, Thomas was arrested at Pattaya Thai, the restaurant on the 4000 block of Chestnut Street.

According to police, Thomas stole two purses or other personal bags from people inside the restaurant and then attempted to make a getaway through Pattaya Thai’s basement. Police say they found one of the purses in the restaurant’s septic tank in the basement. She appeared to be drunk, according to police.

Thomas has been charged with theft and receiving stolen property, among other offenses. She is being held at the Riverside women’s jail in Northeast Philadelphia in lieu of $2,000 bail.

Meanwhile, Thomas faces a violation of probation hearing in the 2015 cases and could face serious jail time as a result. She’s next due in court on August 8th.

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