Caroline Giuliani, Daughter of Ex-NYC Mayor, Arrested for Shoplifting
Aug. 4, 2010 — -- The daughter of Rudy Giuliani, the former federal prosecutor and one time presidential candidate, was arrested today when she allegedly tried to shoplift cosmetics, according to police.
Caroline Giuliani, 20, was taken into custody at a branch of the Sephora skincare and makeup store near the home on the tony East Side of Manhattan she shares with her mother, Donna Hanover, a former newscaster who divorced from Giuliani in 2002.
She was allegedly caught by a store security camera shoplifting five cosmetics items worth more than $100 -- including Aqua Cream, Dior Skinflash Primer, Bliss hydroderm cream, a rollerball funnel and a hairnet -- and escorted out of the store in handcuffs, according to police sources.
Giuliani was charged with petit larceny and released. She will be required to appear before a judge at a later date, sources said.
"Caroline is a lovely young woman," her attorney, Michael Bachner, said in a statement. "Still, it would be inappropriate for me to comment while her matter is in the legal process."
Giuliani's daughter is a student at Harvard University. She famously made waves in 2007 when she listed herself as a member of Barack Obama's Facebook group, "Barack Obama (One Million Strong for Barack)," while her father was gunning for the Republican presidential nomination.
Her father initially made his reputation as a prosecutor who was tough on crime. He rode that reputation to become mayor of New York City.
Caroline Giuliani has been estranged from her father since he split from Hanover for his current wife.
Rudy Giuliani also had a falling out with his son, Andrew, now 24-years-old, after the divorce. But in a 2009 interview with GQ, Andrew revealed he reconciled with his father, saying, "I support him in whatever he chooses to do."
The former mayor's daughter is far from the first bold-faced name to be accused of shoplifting.
Winona Ryder memorably racked up four felony charges for shoplifting from a Beverly Hills Saks Fifth Avenue in 2001. She was convicted of grand theft and vandalism, sentenced to three years' probation and 480 hours of community service, forced to pay more than $10,000 in fines and restitution, and ordered to undergo psychological and drug counseling. The very public arrest, trial and aftermath put her career on hold for four years.
In 1993, then 17-year-old tennis star Jennifer Capriati was issued a citation after attempting to walk out of a Flordia shopping mall wearing a ring she didn't purchase. She told the store's owners she was trying on rings and simply forgot to take one off; they chose not to press charges.
