Theft

GEROLD GIBSON, a Philadelphia police narcotics officer and the son-in-law of Gov. Corbett, was suspended Friday by Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey for 30 days with the intent to dismiss. Gibson was taken off the street Jan. 31, the same day he allegedly was caught on camera stealing $140 from a car he believed had been seized during a drug raid. Police sources previously told the Daily News that the money had been treated with a glow-in-the-dark chemical and hidden in the vehicle by investigators from the FBI and the Police Department.

A former Tredyffrin/Easttown School District official who said she fell into financial trouble when she was fleeced by an online love interest was arrested Wednesday and accused of using the district's gas card to fill personal vehicles. Toni Amerman Pulcini, 60, a former transportation supervisor, used the card to steal $8,329 worth of gasoline between October 2011 and November 2012, police said. Pulcini, of Easton, Pa., is charged with theft, receiving stolen property, and access-device fraud.

WASHINGTON - U.S. officials said Wednesday that they would be putting diplomatic pressure on countries implicated in thefts of trade secrets and seek stronger international enforcement of intellectual-property protections. The Obama administration pledged to share more intelligence with companies about the nations involved in economic espionage and methods used to steal corporate information, and to study the need for stronger U.S. laws against trade-secret theft. "We will act vigorously to combat the theft of U.S. trade secrets that could be used by foreign companies or by foreign governments to gain an unfair economic edge," Victoria Espinel, the U.S. intellectual-property enforcement coordinator, told reporters.

DEAR HARRY: I'm a young, married guy whose mother got hit with identity theft a year ago. It was a problem, but it got straightened out with zero loss to her. It was emotionally aggravating, however, and she did need a visit to her doctor. I want to avoid that as much as possible. I see all kinds of ads for companies that will do that for me, but they seem to be more about boasting than protecting. There have to be things I can do for myself. Help! WHAT HARRY SAYS: The most important thing is to be alert so you can catch a stolen identity before it gets too far. Get an annual credit report from each of the major reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

With Wednesday's arrest of 14 people linked to the apparent theft of $1 million worth of auto parts from the Bensalem Township School District over a decade, law enforcement and school officials are trying to understand how the situation went unchecked for so long. In particular, officials wonder how Jack Myers, the former business manager, who oversaw the district's $100 million annual budget, failed to recognize any financial malfeasance. Myers was charged with theft and misappropriation of government property.

A former employee of a Montgomery County condominium has pleaded guilty to taking hush money from her boss not to reveal his theft of $600,000 from the complex. Patricia Paugh, 54, on Tuesday admitted to one count of theft and one count of conspiracy to commit theft, both third-degree felonies filed against her in 2011. Paugh was assistant manager of the Plymouth Hill Condominiums, on West Germantown Pike north of Plymouth Meeting Mall, when then-general manager Victor Lopez paid Paugh $30,000 to buy her silence, said Assistant District Attorney Laura Adshead.

EIGHTEEN PEOPLE have been arrested and charged with bilking the Bensalem Township School District out of big money. Officials announced the arrests Wednesday after a months-long investigation found that nearly $1 million in vehicles, bus tires, batteries and other auto parts had been stolen from the district and sold for personal gain. A separate investigation determined that four employees of the district's grounds crew, who were among the 18 arrested, conned the district by clocking hours they never worked.

For a decade, members of "the Breakfast Club," a group of Bucks County car aficionados, knew where to get their brake pads, windshield wipers, and other materials: the garage of the Bensalem Township School District. That's because, according to police, the garage was the center of a web of corruption and theft. District facilities employees there allegedly were stealing old vehicles and new parts - including about $1 million worth of bus tires and batteries. The stolen goods then allegedly would be distributed to members of "the Breakfast Club" free, dropped at a club member's junkyard in return for access to parts, or sold elsewhere for cash.

Boy, 12, charged in theft of a rental car * Garrett Road near Larchwood Avenue, Upper Darby A 12-year-old boy who broke into an Enterprise rental-car business in Upper Darby on Friday and stole a car, returned two days later to try to steal another set of wheels, police said. Workers at the business noticed something amiss when they opened Saturday morning and found the 2011 Mazda CX-7 missing and couldn't find the keys, said Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.

Twin corruption probes into the Bensalem Township School District have resulted in 20 arrests, including several district employees. Bensalem Township detectives received anonymous tips last year that led to the investigations. Court documents filed today described two brazen schemes, one of which ran for more than a decade. The first involved ghost employees on the school district's grounds keeping crew. Shannon Dyer, 39, and Tony Ruggerio, 28, received full paychecks and "an excessive amount of overtime" but were almost never seen at work.