Upper Moreland Township Police Department Photo by James Short.
James Welch, 60, of Philadelphia, is facing a felony charge of retail theft stemming from a shoplifting incident at a local store, according to police.
On Feb. 19th, around 12:05 p.m., a police officer from the Upper Moreland Police Department responded to Marshall's located at 114 Park Avenue in Willow Grove, for a retail theft in custody.
Police made contact with Marshall's Loss Prevention staff in the Loss Prevention Office, which reported that a black male wearing a green jacket and blue jeans sitting on a bench was observed concealing merchandise on multiple days, Feb. 17, as well as two days later on Feb. 19.
The male was identified as Welch. Loss Prevention staff reported Welch concealed merchandise on Feb. 19 in a shopping bag in his possession. She stated store staff contacted security prior to him exiting the business, at which point merchandise was recovered from the bag. The merchandise included:
The following items were recovered from the Feb. 17 included:
The theft on Feb. 17 and Feb. 19 includes a total loss of $355.79.
A criminal history of Welch yielded five previous retail theft convictions. One incident occurred in 2019, while the other four took place in 2024, according to police.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 27, 2026 at 1:30 p.m. before Judge Thomas P. Murt.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
