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Widow of Avis mogul ‘swiped gloves from discount shop’

She should have tried harder — not to get caught.

Filthy-rich Yanna Avis, widow of car-rental tycoon Warren Avis, was summoned to a Manhattan courtroom Monday after being busted for allegedly swiping a pair of cheap gloves from discount department store Loehmann’s.

The French-born, 64-year-old cabaret singer agreed to do a day of community service after being charged with petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.

The misdemeanor charges against the smoky-voiced chanteuse — who insisted the arrest was just a big “misunderstanding” — will be dropped if she stays out of trouble for six months.

Avis, who lives in a luxury co-op on Fifth Avenue at East 76th Street overlooking Central Park, slipped the gloves into her purse at the Loehmann’s on Seventh Avenue in Chelsea at 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 26, according to a criminal complaint.

Store detective Tamica Grant “observed the defendant remove one pair of gloves from a display and conceal the items in a bag. Grant then observed the defendant outside the store in possession of the property without paying for it,” reads the complaint, which did not list a price for the gloves.

Defense lawyer Stephen McCarthy, who accompanied Avis to the Manhattan Criminal Court hearing, insisted the wealthy widow “was the victim of an inattentive sales girl.”

Avis, he said, was checking out of Loehmann’s with $1,300 of merchandise when the sales clerk got into a beef with another customer, became distracted and forgot to ring up the gloves.

“The misunderstanding that resulted in Ms. Avis’ appearance today has been successfully resolved. The matter has been adjourned to be dismissed and sealed, upon her offer to complete one day of community service,” McCarthy said.

Hoping to avoid the media, Avis stayed in the courtroom for nearly two hours after her appearance, until a court officer kicked her out for the lunch break.

She left the courthouse with her head covered by a large scarf, and held an envelope over her face for good measure.