Winona theft trial told of hidden sensor tags

A security manager today told a court he found four sensor tags hidden in the pocket of a coat the day after actress Winona Ryder allegedly stole goods from an exclusive store.

Kenneth Evans, who works at Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, was giving evidence on the second day of a hearing into shoplifting charges against Ryder.

Mr Evans told the court that, on December 13 last year, he went to a clothing display on the store’s third floor Chanel boutique, where he had seen Ryder during her shopping expedition the previous day.

He said: ‘‘In the first coat on the rack in the left breast pocket, I recovered four sensor tags.’’

Two of the tags were from two designer handbags and one was from a hair accessory, he said.

Those items were recovered from Ryder when she was arrested outside the store, he said.

He also said that a colleague found two sensor tags hidden in the padding of a chair in a fitting room which had been occupied by Ryder.

Ryder, who appeared in court with her right arm in a sling after fracturing it when she was struck by a television camera at a hearing earlier this week, denies shoplifting.

The 30-year-old star of Little Women and Girl Interrupted was arrested on December 12 last year for allegedly stealing about £3,500 worth of clothing from Saks. Police said she also had the painkiller Oxycodone, a morphine derivative, without a prescription.

Ryder has been charged with grand theft, burglary, vandalism and possession of Oxycodone and faces up to three years and eight months in prison if convicted.

The court heard that Mr Evans had been checking Ryder’s movements during her lengthy shopping trip in the store last December.

He told the preliminary hearing, a process during which the judge determines whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed to trial, that he initially thought Ryder was a ‘‘homeless person’’.

She caught his attention because she was carrying so many bags and picking up various items of merchandise as she wandered through the store.

Mr Evans said he saw Ryder conceal a black hat and a black handbag in her shopping bag.

Under cross-examination of Mr Evans, it emerged that Ryder had two receipts for merchandise she bought in the store.

Her lawyer, Mark Geragos, produced two receipts, one of which was timed just before 4pm and was for about £215 and the other, for about £2,440, which was timed at 5.19pm, about 15 minutes before Ryder left the store.

Mr Evans said the goods on those receipts were Gucci shoes, two Yves Saint Laurent sleeveless blouses and a Dolce & Gabbana leather jacket.

‘‘None of the items were the ones we recovered or were interested in,’’ he said.

The hearing, before Judge Elden S Fox at Beverley Hills Court, continues later today.