Caught On Camera: Woman Accused Of Stealing Wallet From Publix Shopper
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HOLLYWOOD (CBSMiami) - Shopping at Publix can be a pleasure, but it can also turn into a very bad day if you're not paying attention.
One woman found that out the hard way.
The Hollywood police department has released surveillance video from the Publix store on Sheridan St at 17th Avenue of a thief stealing a woman's wallet as she's focused on a produce bin.
The victim who did not want to show all of her face or provide her name told CBS4's Peter D'Oench, "Well naturally I feel very upset. Nobody likes to be taken advantage of. I usually zip up my wallet in my purse but this time I may have been a little careless. I had my wallet in my shopping cart and usually I have my hand on it but this time I turned away to look at produce and when I went to the register to check out I realized my wallet was gone and that someone had stolen it from inside the store. They took all of my identification, $400 in cash, all of my credit cards and identification cards and I must tell you my Louis Vuitton purse was worth about $900."
"My message to all people is to wear a cross body purse if you go into a store where there is a lot of shopping," she said.
"Oh I would love to see this person caught," said the victim. "I am sure that she has struck before."
"I have seen the video and it shows the person going right and then left and then she is very brazen when she reaches right into my purse and steals my wallet and you see the wallet dangling in her left hand and she walks right by me in the produce area and gets another items and walks away. I believe she must have stuffed my wallet down her shirt or something like that before leaving," said the victim.
It is the second time in the past week that a police agency in Broward has released surveillance tape of a woman's wallet being stolen at a supermarket and while Hollywood police are not saying if the cases are connected, they are similar. In both cases a woman with a shopping cart preys on unsuspecting women as they are distracted by items they are looking at.
In both cases, the thief appears to continue shopping after stealing the purse. The case we showed you last week occurred at a store in Cooper City on July 26TH.
The video from July 5th shows a woman and her companion looking over items in the bin, the woman's purse is in the flip-up child seat section of the cart. As the two are preoccupied, another woman walks up behind them, stands for there for a second or two. When she realizes they don't notice her, the woman casually reaches into the cart and steals a wallet from the purse. She then walks over to the side of the same bin, grabs an item from it, puts it in her own cart and walks away.
The woman got away with about $400 in cash and miscellaneous credit cards that were used in Fort Lauderdale.
What makes the video so disturbing is that thousands of woman leave their purses in the flip-up child seat when they shop and sometimes leave them unattended as they look for items. The video is a great reminder to keep an eye on your purse at all times whenever you go shopping.
Anyone with information on the theft is urged call Hollywood police at (954) 967-4636.
You can also call Broward Crime Stoppers at (954) 493-TIPS (8477). There is a reward of up to $3,000.
