RUSKIN, Fla. — Hillsborough County deputies have arrested a fortune teller who reportedly robbed someone at gunpoint last month in Ruskin.
Carola Mitchell, 52, is facing charges of robbery and kidnapping with a firearm after she stole $12,000 from a woman on May 16 at a home on South Star Drive, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said in a search warrant.
Deputies said Mitchell arrived at the home asking the woman where to find Mexican food and if she could have some water. After being let inside, Mitchell presented the gun before robbing her and leaving, according to the sheriff's office.
Surveillance video from a nearby home at the time of the robbery led deputies to connect Mitchell with a white Nissan Rouge bearing a fraudulent Texas license plate, deputies said. More surveillance from different locations, including a 7-Eleven gas station in Davenport, helped the sheriff's office match the victim's description of Mitchell to the driver of the Nissan.
After a nearly month-long investigation, Mitchell was found on June 10 in Bradenton before being arrested, according to deputies. During an interview with the sheriff's office, detectives uncovered that Mitchell has been using her fortune-telling services as "a ruse to gain entry into victims' homes to commit robberies or thefts of cash and jewelry."
Mitchell also reportedly admitted to deputies that she used WhatsApp to get the fraudulent Texas temporary tags.
At this time, the sheriff's office is requesting a search warrant of Mitchell's phone, which they believe possesses evidence that she was at the victim's home at the time of the robbery, according to documents. Deputies also believe there are messages in the phone from other victims of similar crimes.
