What a Do-Si-Dope.
A coldhearted crook snatched more than $1,100 from a group of New Jersey Girl Scouts at a shopping mall — leaving the heartbroken youngsters unable to afford a long-awaited trip for the troop.
“We were shocked and devastated,” troop leader Jessica Medina, 38, of Woodbridge, told The Post Monday.
“The girls had worked so hard. Everybody was crying.”
Troop 80062, which includes girls ages 5 to 12, had set up their cookie table on the upper level of the Woodbridge Center Mall, near a Chick-fil-A restaurant, hoping to raise money for a trip to Savannah, Ga., where the founder of the Girl Scouts once lived.
The thief struck at about 4:40 p.m., as Medina — whose daughters Oliviya, 5, and Aryanna, 11, are in the troop — was about to take the proceeds from their sales of Thin Mints, Do-Si-Dos and Samoas to the bank.
The thief, who was with an older woman using a red walker and seemed to be handicapped himself, first asked to buy a box of Caramel de Lites and some Peanut Butter Patties, she said.
Then, as Medina set the cash envelope containing $500 and some checks down on the table to help 11-year-old Olivia Limmer with the transaction, the man snatched it all.
“I was behind the table and he reached over it to grab the envelope. He slipped it in his jacket. He did it very fast — in the blink of an eye,” she said.
Olivia added, “I didn’t see him take the money but I saw he nudged the woman to say, ‘Let’s go.’ ”
Within two minutes, Medina realized the troop’s trip money had been stolen.
“I was on my way out, and I said, ‘Did I drop it? Where did it go?’ ” she recalled.
At first, she didn’t suspect that the man, who was tall with shaggy hair, had stolen it because he “appeared to be special needs,” she said.
“He was rocking back and fourth and slurring,” Medina told The Post. “Police told us it was probably an act.”
And it was clear on camera footage that the man’s behavior was really a cunning ruse.
“Judging from the security tape he had his eyes on the envelope the entire time . . . I think [he] was pretending to be special needs so people wouldn’t stare at him,” Olivia said, adding that people averted their eyes.
“I’m pretty angry. It’s heartbreaking,” she said.
“You shouldn’t steal from anybody, but stealing from Girl Scouts is even worse.”
The thief and the woman he was with fled quickly after swiping the money, said sources from the troop.
Police were investigating but had no suspects Monday, according to Capt. Scott Kuzma, of the Woodbridge Police Department.
The troop plans to keep raising money for their trip.
“The girls’ spirits were down but we’re going to march on and keep trying,” Medina said.
But even workers at the mall were feeling salty about the theft — saying the people responsible ought to get their just desserts.
“They should give the money back,” said Nina Chatlani, 62, a sales representative for Leather Warehouse. “They should have a heart.”