By Gabriela Resto-Montero, Mariel S. Clark and Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Staff
UPPER EAST SIDE — Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani's daughter was released from police custody Wednesday evening after her arrest earlier in the day for shoplifting at an Upper East Side Sephora, police said.
Caroline Giuliani, 20, allegedly took $100 worth of makeup from the Sephora located at 144 E. 86th St. near Lexington Avenue, police said.
The incident occurred at roughly 3:30 p.m. when Giuliani was apparently spotted on the store's surveillance video, the NYPD said.
The store declined to press charges when they learned the identity of the alleged thief, but NYPD arrested her at the store anyway, sources said.
Giuliani was led from the store red-faced and in handcuffs by four police officers, witnesses told DNAinfo.
"Why would she do that?" said witness Karen Smith, who saw the arrest and told DNAinfo that the young woman looked as though she had been crying.
Police took the Harvard University student to the 19th Precinct for processing, sources said. She was released with her lawyer about 7:15 p.m. Wednesday evening.
Giuliani was given a Desk Appearance Ticket (DAT) issued by the NYPD, which is typical for misdemeanor charges.
The DAT states that she will have to make a court appearance on Aug. 31 on charges including petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.
By the time of her appearance, the DA's office expects to have decided whether they will prosecute Giuliani on those charges, they said.
"Once we review the case, we will decide whether or not to file a criminal complaint," said Erin Duggan, communications director for the DA's office.
The former mayor's daughter lives with her mother, Donna Hanover, who divorced then-mayor Giuliani in a cantankerous public falling-out in 2002, whcih began when Giuliani announced he was divorcing her to the press before telling her himself, according to published reports.
Caroline reportedly has had little contact with her father since the divorce, the Associated Press reported. Giuliani took up with his current wife, Judith Nathan, before the ink was dry on the divorce papers, and a family court judge banned Nathan from coming into the mayoral home, Gracie Mansion, while Hanover and the children still resided there.
In 2007, Caroline reportedly became a fan of the Barack Obama for president fan page on Facebook, despite the fact that her father was also running for the White House.
