Police Chief's wife convicted

FAIRBORN, Ohio (WDTN) - Christine Reiss moved to the Miami Valley with her husband last year when he took over as Riverside police chief. She was arrested for shoplifting in Beavercreek in February.

She plead not guilty to a single charge of theft Tuesday, but court records say there's evidence to show she shoplifted from the Beavercreek Von Maur three times. One time on camera, surveillance caught Reiss stuffing items in her bag at the high end department store while the clerk turned away.

Her attorney says she shoplifted so she'd have nice clothes for her kids at their new school, and couldn't afford to pay because the family was still paying the mortgage for a house they couldn't sell in Michigan.

In sentencing her for the theft, Judge Beth Root questioned her motives as a parent, since she took her 8-year -old child along for the crime.
 

"You are supposed to be a role model for your daughter, she's wise enough to know what's going on, so don't teach her the habits you have shown," the Fairborn Municipal Judge instructed.


Reiss was sentenced to 180 days in jail, but the sentence was suspended since she had already made $1890 in restitution for all the alleged shoplifting offenses.