Gothamist

A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.

Gothamist

WNYC Listen Live

Donate

 

 

News

Caroline Giuliani Looked Arresting After Alleged Shoplifting


By

Jen Chung

Published Aug 6, 2010

Modified Aug 6, 2010


Share

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail


Never miss a story

 Email address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .

Photograph of Caroline Giuliani leaving the 19th Precinct on Wednesday by Daniella Zalcman on Flickr

 


By

Jen Chung

Published Aug 6, 2010

Modified Aug 6, 2010


Share

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail


We rely on your support to make local news available to all

Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

There's loads of Caroline Giuliani-related news, but let's start with one of the more curious matters: Her transformation from grungy-looking (in a NYU t-shirt) alleged shoplifter in handcuffs to glowing Harvard sweatshirt clad co-ed, with flowing blond tresses, confidently walking out of the station house. According to the Post's sources, it was because of...the Post! "After a Post photographer snapped Rudy Giuliani's dowdy daughter in cuffs... she asked cops if she could put on a little makeup."

The 20-year-old daughter of "America's mayor" was arrested on Wednesday afternoon after allegedly stealing "$40 Dior Skinflash primer sheer, a $22 Make Up For Ever Aqua Cream, a $10 Sephora brand Refillable Rollerball and three $3.50 snag-free elastics" from a Sephora store at Lexington and 86th. When at the 19th Precinct, she apparently spent 15 minutes in a bathroom glamming herself up. One stylist said, "It will probably go down in history as the best jailhouse transformation ever. She made sure her hair and makeup were on point," while another sympathized, "I think letting her hair down made a big difference. Everybody wants a good mug shot."

The Daily News' Joanna Molloy states the obvious, at least to pop psychology fans, "If you wanted to hurt the father who's barely spoken to you or your brother since he publicly dumped your mom for another woman a decade ago, breaking the law was the most embarrassing way to do it."

One woman—busted on a Duane Reade shoplifting charged—who was locked up in holding with Caroline revealed, "She introduced herself as Caroline. She didn't make any issue about being Giuliani's daughter. I didn't find out until I heard the police call out her name... We were in the same place. She was no better than me."

Police sources also insist the Post that Caroline Giuliani didn't get any special breaks, "In fact, it's almost like they went out of their way not to help her. Anybody else, they would never call the DA's Office to ask them what to do. Everybody was afraid to make a decision, so they kept pushing it up to cover themselves. If they wanted to, they could have sneaked her out of the precinct."

The Manhattan DA's office is deciding whether to move forward with criminal charges, but Sephora has declined to press charges against her, which makes the Manhattan DA's office job tougher. One lawyer told us "Declining to prosecute a case altogether is not something the DA’s office does very often. If we’re talking about misdemeanor-level theft and it’s a person’s first case the DA’s office in Manhattan usually offers ACD’s in such cases." An ACD is an "Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal," so Giuliani could have something in common with a former Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest champ.

Fun fact: Petit larceny busts have increased 21% under Mayor Bloomberg, when compared with stats during the Rudy Giuliani years. Bloomberg said, "You always worry about your kids, and when your kids get in trouble you do what's natural and try to protect them. And I think this is a private matter that the Giulianis have to work through." And, for once, Rudy Giuliani is being quiet:

Tagged

Caroline Giuliani

crime

donna hanover

never forget

petit larceny

rudy giuliani

sephora

shoplifting

upper east side


Jen Chung

Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.

Read more

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


MORE news

Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn

Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.

By

Rosemary Misdary

Published Oct 16, 2026 at 4:22 p.m. ET


Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say

A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.

By

Samantha Max

News

Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say

A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.

By

Samantha Max


Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time

By

David Brand

School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year

By

Jessica Gould

NYC’s bridges can last 'forever,' if we take care of them

By

Clayton Guse


Never miss a story

Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.

Sign upEmail address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .