Three of the five defendants in a midday March 3 theft of $94,000 in handbags from the Balenciaga store on East Hampton’s Newtown Lane have now been sentenced. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney announced Friday that Ali Harris, 28, was sentenced to three to nine years on grand larceny and possession of stolen property charges. He will join his co-defendants Wazir Rogers, 28, and Jamal Johns, 26, in state prison — they were sentenced earlier this fall. Baseemah Davis, 34, has yet to be sentenced.
And police have not caught or identified a fifth participant in the theft, a woman in a pink ski mask. She remains at large, as do, apparently, 14 pricey handbags, as only 34 of 48 were recovered, according to prosecutors.
It’s been a tough year for the iconic Spanish fashion house with a local presence: Even as prosecutors were handing down sentences this fall in the stolen bag case, the luxe retailer was making new headlines for an advertising campaign that featured children clutching stuffed animals decked out in what appeared to be bondage gear.
That campaign was suspended, with apologies, in November, following public uproar.
The retailer was also impelled to end its partnership with Kanye West this fall after the controversial musician-designer sang the praises of Adolf Hitler.