Celebrity chef Todd English former fiancee Erica Wang confessed to stealing almost $60,000 worth of clothing from Ralph Lauren store in NYC

Update: 8/1/12

The New York Post is reporting that Erica Wang was arrested on February 23, 2004 for stealing merchandise from Bergdorf Goodman.

The Post said “details were not available” on that particular case “because the court case is sealed.”  It is however unclear whether Ralph Lauren checked her references before hiring her.

Original story

An employee at the Ralph Lauren flagship store in Manhattan is accused of stealing more than $50,000 worth of merchandise from the store where she worked for about eight months.

Erica Wang, who made news in 2009 when her celebrity chef fiancé Todd English left her at the altar, is said to have confessed to the crime.

The New York Post is reporting that the shoplifting took place on two different occasions with the last one taking place last Wednesday.

According to the newspaper, last Wednesday an employee spotted 36-year-old Wang leaving the store on Madison Avenue at East 72^nd Street through an employee exit with the unpaid merchandise in a black shopping bag and stopped her.

When questioned by the employee, Wang claimed she paid for the nine items totaling $5,944.25 and had a receipt.  She told the employee was needed to go back into the store to retrieve the receipt but instead of providing the receipt; she hid the merchandise in a storage room.

It’s unclear what excuse Wang gave the employee when she failed to come up with a receipt, but she left the store and the following day she returned to the store and hid the merchandise in a different location in the same storage area.

When confronted, Wang not only admitted to not paying for the merchandise but she confessed to stealing almost $50,000 worth of merchandise from the designer’s store.

“I stole $46,194 worth of merchandise not including the $6,000 I stole today,” the Post quoted Wang as saying.

Wang was charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.  She was released on her own recognizance after appearing in court last Friday.

In October 2009, Wang’s fiancé left her at the altar hours before they were due to marry in a $150,000 wedding at the St. Regis Hotel in Manhattan.  Instead of canceling the wedding, Wang went on with expensive party without her fiancé.

She was arrested that same month when she attacked English for leaving her at the altar.  During that incident she left the chef with a gash over his eye that required seven stitches.

She was sentenced to community services of anger management classes.

English is best known for his restaurant, Olives, located in both Boston and Las Vegas, plus his TV cooking show, Food Trip with Todd English, on PBS. In 2005 he was a judge on the PBS show Cooking Under Fire.