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A Chandler woman, currently in prison for a similar but unrelated crime, is accused of doing one of the sleazier things we’ve heard in quite some time: stealing money from a fund set up for a murdered cop.
Police announced yesterday that 28-year-old Stephanie Pringle was arrested on suspicion of identity theft and attempted theft for stealing about $300 from the Fallen Officers Fund set up for murdered Chandler detective Carlos Ledesma.
Ledesma, a father of two, was part of an operation in which undercover officers tried to buy bails of weed from suspects arrested at the scene, a home near South 23rd Avenue and Vineyard Road in Phoenix in July.
Something went wrong, though, and someone inside the house started shooting.
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A shootout took place between suspects and roughly a dozen Chandler police officers, who were stationed near the house.
Ledesma and two other officers, who were also shot, were not wearing bullet-proof vests, police officials confirm.
When the smoke cleared, Ledesma was dead — along with two suspects — and two other officers were wounded.
As for the alleged slimeball who stole from a murdered cop, on August 10, cops say, Pringle made an unauthorized electronic debit withdrawal for $302 from a branch of Well Fargo Bank handling the memorial fund.
Pringle, however, is currently serving a 3 1/2-year prison sentence for auto theft and violating her probation.
