An alleged attempt to steal less than $9 worth of items from a city grocery store has resulted in felony charges for a Saegertown woman who was also arraigned earlier this month in another 2023 case in which she is accused of crashing her vehicle in Woodcock Township after fleeing from Pennsylvania State Police.
Elizabeth A. Bevilheimer, 38, who resides in the 20000 block of Parkwood Drive, waived her preliminary hearing on felony charges of retail theft and conspiracy to commit retail theft before Magisterial District Judge Samuel Pendolino on Friday.
The charges resulted from a visit to Valesky’s grocery store with Steven E. Giles, 32, of Saegertown, on June 10, 2023, according to the probable cause affidavit filed by police in the case. A witness told police that he saw Giles concealing items in the book bag while Bevilheimer held the bag. Both then tried to leave without paying for the items, according to the affidavit.
When a Meadville Police Department officer arrived at the store just before 11 a.m., he found Giles “actively resisting store staff in an attempt to flee the store,” the affidavit states. Bevilheimer “was able to escape custody and drove away.”
Both Giles and Bevilheimer had two prior convictions for retail theft, police reported, meaning what would otherwise be misdemeanor charges were elevated to felonies. Giles told police that he was jobless and had fallen on hard times. He said it was his 14-year-old son’s birthday and he had made a “stupid mistake,” according to the affidavit.
Giles faced one felony charge of retail theft and pleaded guilty in 2024. He was sentenced to a maximum of three days in jail and given credit for spending four days in jail prior to trial, according to court records.
He was also sentenced to 60 days of electronic monitoring and house arrest and a maximum of 18 months of probation.
Bevilheimer was ticketed in the city of Meadville for driving with a suspended or revoked license on March 5, 2023. The next morning, she was arraigned in Vernon Township before Magisterial District Judge Lincoln Zilhaver on numerous charges resulting from the incident on March 3, in which she was reportedly found sleeping behind the wheel of a sport utility vehicle (SUV) parked near the intersection of Park Avenue Extension and Brown Road.
A police press release issued at the time said that Bevilheimer refused to identify herself and soon fled in the SUV. After a short pursuit, Bevilheimer lost control of the vehicle, the release said, and crashed on Brown Road, which stretches a mile east from Park Avenue Extension to Craig Road. She was flown from the scene to UPMC Hamot in Erie for medical treatment, but later she was transferred to a UPMC hospital in Pittsburgh.
Charges in the case were eventually filed in December 2023, but Bevilheimer was not arraigned until earlier this month. She faces two felony charges for fleeing, three misdemeanor driving under the influence charges and misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. She also faces 23 summary traffic charges.
Bevilheimer was assigned bail of $20,000 in the case stemming from the alleged chase and was lodged in the Crawford County jail, Saegertown, from March 5 to March 9 before posting bond. She was assigned an unsecured bail of $10,000 in the retail theft case. She remains free. A preliminary hearing in the former case will be held April 16 before Zilhaver. A trial in the latter case will be scheduled for September in Crawford County Court of Common Pleas.
