Idaho bridal shop owners face felony charges for allegedly stealing from wedding guests

Two co-owners of a Lewiston bridal shop have been charged with six felonies after allegedly stealing cash and gift cards from guests at two weddings last summer.

Nicole Cady and Desarae Starnes both made initial appearances Wednesday in Nez Perce County Magistrate Court.

The two are partners in Downtown Chic, a Main Street business they acquired in 2015. They rent and sell wedding dresses and formal dresses and do event planning, including wedding receptions. According to court documents, they also manage the Lewis Clark Hotel as a wedding venue.

Cady has been charged with two counts of grand theft and two counts of criminal possession of a financial transaction card; Starnes faces one count on each charge.

The charges stem from two wedding receptions that took place at the Lewis Clark Hotel in June and July. According to court documents, Cady and Starnes were present at both receptions.

2 brides realize they’re missing hundreds in gifts, cash

Following the June wedding, a guest contacted the bride to ask about a Home Depot gift card they’d purchased for the couple. Realizing that she’d never received the card, the bride contacted other guests and determined that more than $1,000 in items were missing.

Similarly, following the July wedding the bride contacted guests and determined that $585 in cash and an unknown number of gift cards — including one for Shopko — had been stolen from purses in the bridesmaids’ dressing room.

Lewiston police investigated both incidents. They were able to track when the gift cards were redeemed and review surveillance photos and video taken during those transactions.

According to the police report, the Shopko card was redeemed the same evening as the July wedding reception, in conjunction with Cady’s Shopko loyalty account number. A surveillance photo showed two women leaving the store at that time. Although the photo was taken from the rear, police believe they were Cady and Starnes. The police report notes that a purse one of them was carrying “appeared to be the same purse (Cady) wore into the police station when she came in for an interview.”

The Home Depot gift card was redeemed by a woman a month after the June wedding. Although a surveillance video of the transaction doesn’t show the face of the woman, police believe it was Starnes, based on her stature, hair color and hairstyle, as well as a tattoo on her left foot.

Similarly, a stolen P1FCU gift card was redeemed at Home Depot in August. According to the police report, video of that transaction shows someone who “is clearly Nicole Cady.”

The maximum penalty for grand theft is no less than one year and no more than 14 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. Magistrate Judge Michelle Evans set a Dec. 3 status hearing for Cady and Starnes, with a Dec. 5 preliminary hearing.