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Orlando Sentinel
Orlando Sentinel
National
Garfield Hylton

Florida officers arrest ‘hugging bandit’ accused of stealing wallets and credit cards

Florida officers said a “hugging bandit” was hugging older men and helping herself to their wallets.

Clearwater Police arrested Kathy Stevens, 65, on Thursday, according to a post from the police department.

Stevens faces more than a dozen charges from various law enforcement agencies around the Tampa Bay area.

Police say Stevens approached men, pretending to know them, hugged them, then she’d “help herself to their wallets and credit cards.”

The Clearwater Police Department has four pending cases against her, according to the Facebook post.

Stevens is in Pinellas County Jail awaiting trial for charges, including fraudulent use of personal information, robbery by sudden snatching, unlawful possession of someone else’s identification and unauthorized use of a credit card.

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