An employee at a high-end women’s boutique on the Upper East Side swiped a $13,000 mink coat from inventory — and then posted a picture of herself rocking it on Instagram, authorities said Monday.
Angeline Chidowore, 39, of Harlem, was arrested last week and charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property, a little over three months after she allegedly stole the coat from the Moda Operandi shop on E. 64th St., according to a criminal complaint.
The store caught wind of the five-finger discount after stumbling upon her Instagram page, which was riddled with photos of Chidowore modeling their merchandise, the complaint says.
One of the articles of clothing she was spotted wearing online was a $13,200 red mink coat from Color Temperature that had gone missing from the shop’s inventory.
On Dec. 25 — less than two weeks after the fur disappeared — Chidowore’s bosses saw her flaunting it on Instagram and alerted police, cops said.
They had been aware of her secret fashion shows since early November, when they first spotted the pictures on social media, the complaint says.
On Nov. 9, Chidowore allegedly signed for a shipment of 14 items — including the mink coat.
She was in charge of Moda Operandi’s inventory list at the time, and when her employers found out that she was sneaking the clothes out of the store to model them, they promptly terminated her on Nov. 16, the complaint says.
After a lengthy investigation, Chidowore was arrested on Feb. 22 and eventually released without bail.
Her lawyer, Kenneth Gilbert, blasted the charges against her on Monday and claimed that modeling the store’s clothes on Instagram was part of her job description.
“Ms. Chidowore is not guilty of this crime. Once the facts come out you will be able to see that as well,” Gilbert told The Post. “They take pictures of the clothing that comes in as part of their inventory and part of their Instagram account. I think there is some kind of mix up.”
Chidowore is due back in court on April 11.
Additional reporting by Priscilla DeGregory
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