An eldery woman nicknamed ‘the hugging bandit’ for allegedly pickpocketing victims while giving them a hug has been arrested.
Kathy Stevens was given the unusual but fitting moniker by police over in Florida where she is accused of pickpocketing a number of strangers.
According to the Clearwater Police Department (CPD), the 65-year-old would target older men outside of shops and pretend to know them.
Stevens would then hug the victim, but her intentions were anything but affectionate, as she allegedly used this as a ploy to nab their wallets and bank cards.
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Since being arrested, authorities have said she now faces numerous charges from other departments, having allegedly carried out her crimes across the Tampa Bay area.
CPD shared Stevens’ mugshot on Facebook, as well as a number of CCTV images showing her seemingly using stolen credit cards in various stores.
Alongside the photos, they wrote: "Remember the hugging bandit who preyed on older men in Clearwater and elsewhere? She's been arrested and is in the Pinellas County Jail.
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"Kathy Stevens, 65, faces more than a dozen charges from CPD and other law enforcement agencies across the Tampa Bay area.
"She would approach older men outside stores and pretend she knew them as she went to hug them. While hugging them, she would help herself to their wallets and credit cards.
"We had four such cases here in Clearwater. Thanks to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies for their assistance in the case."
According to police, she would sometimes pretend to know the man’s wife, asking them how their SO was doing. In another case, she reportedly said she was a nurse at the victim’s doctor’s office.
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An affidavit shows that in an incident that unfolded in October last year, she talked to the victim as if she knew him before opening his car door where she went through his things while maintaining the conversation.
The 65-year-old allegedly managed to nick his Capital One credit card, although luckily he was sent a fraud alert from the bank shortly after.
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Her nickname appears to be a reference to The Kissing Bandit, a 1948 musical comedy film starring Frank Sinatra as a man who discovers his father was an outlaw called the ‘Kissing Bandit’ because he planted a smooch on women after robbing them.
Stevens awaits trial on $113,750 bail.
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