WAL-MART 'THIEF' PHOTO-FINISHED
By KIERAN CROWLEY and ED ROBINSON
December 18, 2003 -- The clueless Long Island thief who posed for a picture while stealing $2,000 worth of digital camera equipment at a Wal-Mart is now posing for a mug shot, police said.
JAMES STISSI Yesterday's mug shot.
James Stissi, 36, was arrested yesterday after cops were flooded with calls identifying him as the man in a photo from the Nov. 29 heist in Centereach.
Store security looked at a video surveillance tape, but the black and white tape was of very poor quality and it was impossible to identify the shoplifters.
However, it did show the woman who was with the thief picking up a chained demonstration camera. She pointed it at her apparent confederate - Stissi - and took his picture, but never erased the photo.
That camera had batteries and a disc and was clearly operational, literally giving authorities a clear picture of who stole the cameras.
As soon as the photo was made public, tip lines were inundated with calls.
Detectives went to Stissi's house at about 4 p.m. yesterday.
They arrested him without incident, took his mug shot and charged him with grand larceny.
