A Middle Township Middle School teacher and a Cape May woman are facing theft and robbery conspiracy charges after Atlantic City police say they restrained a casino hotel guest and used his own face to unlock his phone, draining $1,250 from his Apple Pay account. Amanda Crafts, 35, of Wildwood, and Veda Engel, 23, of Cape May, were both released Thursday on pretrial conditions following the October 9 incident at Harrah's Atlantic City.
According to casino.org, the alleged victim first crossed paths with the two women at a bar inside Caesars Atlantic City, where he exchanged phone numbers with Engel. From there, as Downbeach.com reports, Engel called the man and invited him to meet the pair in their room at Harrah's.
Once there, the man told police the women stripped and restrained him on the bed while Engel performed a sex act on him, per the affidavit cited by casino.org. While that was happening, Crafts allegedly held the man down as Engel used facial recognition technology to unlock his cell phone, then made four separate transactions totaling $1,250 through his Apple Pay without his consent, the outlet reports.
'That's What You Get for $1,250'
Before Crafts held the man down while Engel made the transactions, Engel allegedly told him, “that's what you get for $1,250.” Police were called to the hotel following the alleged robbery, and Crafts and Engel were ultimately charged with second-degree theft and conspiracy to commit robbery in connection with the October 9 incident, BreakingAC reports.
Engel is also facing a separate prostitution charge, a disorderly persons offense, stemming from an unrelated case. Casino.org reports she was arrested in December after allegedly offering an undercover New Jersey State Police detective sex for $1,000 at the Borgata, and was released on a summons at that time.
Teacher Says She Was in 'the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time'
Crafts is listed as a computer teacher under the special area departments at Middle Township Middle School, according to Downbeach.com. At her first appearance before Judge Timothy Maguire, held by video from the Atlantic County Justice Facility, Crafts said she is a teacher, has never been arrested and has never been to jail, telling the judge she was simply in “the wrong place at the wrong time,” per the same account.
Crafts, who has four children, told the court she was worried about who would care for her kids and get them to school while she was in custody, and said she would have to make phone calls and figure things out, the outlet reports. She also said she would need to contact her union the day after her release and was unsure whether she could return to work, adding that she had another job lined up as well.
Pretrial Conditions Bar Contact Between the Women
The state consented to pretrial release for both Crafts and Engel, and the two were freed Thursday under conditions that require them to check in with the court every other week. Judge Christine Smith said both defendants must maintain employment, and they were barred from contacting each other or the alleged victim, Downbeach.com reports.
Engel's attorney, Jordan Barbone, said she works at SoFresh SoClean commercial cleaning in Ocean City. The case echoes other New Jersey incidents involving alleged robberies tied to sexual encounters, including a 2009 case in which a man told Jersey City police that cash and other items were stolen from him after what he described as “kinky” sex at a motel, according to nj.com. Separately, northjersey.com reported that two women were charged with prostitution in Fairfield this month after police found online ads offering sex at a local hotel.
