Multi-state theft suspects wanted by police in Duryea, Pittston Twp.

Ed Lewis, The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Updated ·2 min read

Aug. 23—DURYEA — Police in Duryea Borough have obtained arrest warrants charging three men believed to be responsible for distracting an elderly woman and stealing her wallet in the parking lot of Weis Market on July 28.

One of the men, David Raducu, 22, was taken into custody in Knoxville, Tenn., and extradited by the Pennsylvania State Police on Tuesday for similar thefts in Wyoming County.

Raducu, Ion Ionita, 56, and Constantin Liteanu, 50, are believed to be Romanian immigrants, police in Duryea reported.

For the Duryea incident, police allege one of the men with broken English distracted an elderly woman while she loaded groceries into her vehicle. When the woman was distracted, another man removed the woman's wallet from her purse that was in a shopping cart.

A bank card from the woman's wallet was then used by the third man at Walmart in Pittston Township, police reported.

State police on Tuesday announced they suspect Raducu, Ionita and Liteanu committed similar thefts in New York, Ohio and other areas in Pennsylvania, including Hazle Township and Eaton Township, Wyoming County.

State police in Tunkhannock in Wyoming County investigated a report that Raducu distracted a woman at her vehicle in the parking lot of Weis Markets on state Route 29 on Aug. 1. Ionita then allegedly stole credit cards from the woman's purse, which were used by Raducu at Walmart near Tunkhannock to purchase approximately $2,400 in gift cards, state police said.

The trio also are suspected in similar thefts in Broome County, N.Y.

According to the Broome County Sheriff's Office, a woman shopping at a Weis Market was watched by the three men using her debit card PIN at a self-checkout register and was followed to the parking lot. The woman placed her purse on the passenger front seat of her vehicle and was distracted by one of the men outside the vehicle, which was entered by another man stealing her credit and bank cards, the Broome County Sheriff's Office reported.

A surveillance camera recorded their get-away vehicle, a 2016 BMW X5 with a California registration plate.

State police at Tunkhannock and police in Duryea reported the vehicle was stopped by Knoxville Police in Tennessee on Aug. 8, but only Raducu was taken into custody for driving without a license. At the time of the traffic stop, arrest warrants were not filed against the three men as Ionita and Liteanu were released.

Arrest warrants have since been filed against all three men by state police at Tunkhannock, and Duryea police and Pittston Township police.