CLEARWATER, Fla. — Clearwater police say the "hugging bandit" who was stealing wallets and credit cards from older men outside of stores has been arrested.
"Remember the hugging bandit who preyed on older men in Clearwater and elsewhere? She's been arrested and is in the Pinellas County Jail," the police department wrote on Facebook.
Officers say 65-year-old Kathy Stevens would approach the men and pretend that she knew them as she went in for a hug. Once hugging the men, police say she helped herself to their wallets and credit cards.
Stevens faces more than a dozen charges from the Clearwater Police Department and other law enforcement agencies in the Tampa Bay area.