Police Clerk Accused of ATV Theft Was Once Accused of Stealing From Her Dad

DA Seth Williams announced charges against Sharon Hammitt and her husband.

[UPDATE, 3 p.m., February 4th] John Hammitt (right) was arrested today and charged with forgery, criminal conspiracy, theft by deception and related offenses.

[ORIGINAL] On Tuesday morning, Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams announced charges against former Philadelphia Police Department employee Sharon Hammitt (left) and her husband, John Hammitt, claiming that they stole two ATVs from the police auto pound. And it’s not the first time that the former police clerk had been accused of theft.

According to Williams, Sharon Hammitt was a clerk in the auto pound from 1989 until her resignation last December, and she allegedly used her position there to get her hands on two confiscated ATVs, one of which was supposed to be scrapped while the other was to be auctioned off, with all proceeds going to the city. They are also alleged to have taken possession, without the required court order, of a third ATV that was originally purchased by them, went missing and was later confiscated by police.

Williams says that the husband-and-wife team created bogus documents and forged a notary’s signature in order to accomplish their scheme. They have been charged with multiple counts of theft, forgery, tampering with public records, misapplication of entrusted property, and identity theft, among other charges.

In 2007, Sharon Hammitt was arrested by Philadelphia Police and charged with several felonies, including theft, forgery, and identity theft after her own father accused her of opening credit cards in his name while he was in the hospital and racking up thousands of dollars in charges on them. Those charges were later dismissed due to a lack of evidence.

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