Police: Two Women Charged in $10K Theft from D230 School Admitted to Crime

A theft case against three women accused of stealing $10,000 cash from Carl Sandburg High School will continue after a Cook County judge found probable cause during a preliminary hearing on Monday.

Police say Linda Nassar, 36, and Sally Quaraveh, 22, both of Worth, and Sabrina Yassin, 20, of Orland Park, stole the cash from the high school’s cashier’s office on Sept. 5. The women were there to register Nassar's son for school, according to a release from the Cook County State's Attorney's Office.

The three women are all represented by defense attorney James I. Stepanek and are out on bond. Quaraveh was wearing a hot pink sheer shirt over black pants; Nassar was wearing light grey capri jogging pants and a black shirt; and Yassin wore a white shirt with black pants. Nassar, who communicates with sign language, was given a court interpreter for the hearing.

Judge Peter Felice determined Monday there was cause for the women to be arrested after hearing a police officer recount details of the arrests while questioned by Assistant State's Attorney Amari Dawson.

When questioned by Dawson, the officer said he had been contacted Sept. 5 by a high school employee when she noticed the money -- cash receipts from a recent football game -- was missing from a room near where the trio had been standing. The officer was given a partial description of the vehicle, which he gave to his supervisor, Commander John Keating, he said.

Keating then located the vehicle near Yassin's house and made a traffic stop, the officer said. The car was a rental registered to Quaraveh, according to the officer, and Keating observed Quaraveh and Nassar stuffing money in the middle of the armrest when he stopped the car.

The officer said police recovered $400 from the armrest and an additional $1,200 to $1,300 in a large envelope in the vehicle. Yassin reportedly said there was additional money hidden in her closet and $8,000 was subsequently recovered. The officer also said Yassin and Nassar admitted the theft and both gave written statements.

Stepanek asked the officer if other people in the school had access to the room where the cash was kept. The officer said he believed other people may have access. The defense attorney also asked if the school employee knew the serial numbers on the cash; the officer said they had not been given any serial numbers.

The defense attorney asked if Quaraveh, who lives in Pensacola, Fla., may return home until the next hearing. The judge granted the request, but ordered her to surrender her passport.

The women are scheduled to be back in court on Oct. 16.

By Bridgette Outten

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