Mother Accused of Coercing Daughter into Shoplifting Spree at Ross Park Mall

A mother coerced her 14-year-old daughter to go on a high-end shoplifting spree inside  Sunday, before police nabbed them on McKnight Road, according to . 

Kate Spiker, 36, of Sharpsburg, was seen snatching high-end purses inside , according to police. 

Her daughter was outside, behind the wheel of a rented pickup truck, waiting while her mother made several trips in and out of various shops with the loot, police said. 

“They took nearly $5,000 worth of merchandise,” said Ross Twp. Police Sgt. Ben Dripps. “High-end merchandise such as purses, nightwear, lingerie—all stuff women would love. It was not your typical back-to-school shopping trip.” 

The plot began to unravel when a mall security guard asked the girl to move the truck out of the fire lane. 

Police said Spiker is seen on surveillance video telling her daughter to circle back around. That delay was just enough to allow police to make the arrest on McKnight Road. 

“They were very close to being out of Ross Township when we were able to spot the vehicle, conduct the stop and retrieve the merchandise,” Dripps said. 

In addition to the charges from Ross Township, police said they discovered Spiker had been arrested late last month in the City of Pittsburgh for retail theft. 

Charges against the daughter are pending, and she was released into the custody of her father. 

Ross Township Police said they believe the mother coerced the daughter into stealing the merchandise.

“You wonder what kind of parenting is involved, when a mother makes her daughter complicit in crimes such as theft,” Dripps said.

As for a motive, “there really isn’t any indication that there is a drug problem,” said Dripps. “She probably did it for the same reason people have been stealing since Moses wore short pants—greed.”