Cheerleader charged in charity fund theft

ATLANTA, July 25 (UPI) -- Four people, including a cheerleader, allegedly stole $147 from two girls who were raising money for their father's struggling business, police in Georgia said.

Chelsea Alexa Steele, 17, who was a cheerleader at Sprayberry High School in Cobb County, had already been charged in the July 3 theft. Cobb County Police Sgt. Dana Pierce said Katie Leathers and Alexa Michalski, both 18, and a 16-year-old girl, all of Marietta, Ga., were charged Friday.

Joe Greene, whose business, JAG Designs, was the intended beneficiary of the fundraising effort, said his daughters, Sophie, 9, and Sidney, 11, had set up a stand at a swimming pool where they sold caps and T-shirts. He said the girls wanted to contribute to his business and raise some spending money for the summer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Saturday.

The girls told police Steele pretended to buy something and but grabbed the cash box and ran, as an alleged accomplice held a pool-area gate open for a quick getaway.

Steele was arrested July 4. She has pleaded not guilty to robbery, the newspaper said.