HOLLISTER
– An 82-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of stealing
lingerie threatened to put a curse on witnesses if they spoke with
law enforcement, Hollister police said.
HOLLISTER – An 82-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of stealing lingerie threatened to put a curse on witnesses if they spoke with law enforcement, Hollister police said.
Maria Torres was arrested about noon Wednesday after K-Mart employees ”watched her remove tags and hangers, put the items in her purse and walk out” of the store, said Hollister Police Sgt. Dan Winn.
After her arrest for petty theft, she spent a day in jail when she refused to mention details of her identity to local law enforcement, Winn said.
K-Mart security personnel, who were unavailable for comment, had seen Torres attempting to steal items before but had let her know she had been seen so she could not complete the crime, Winn said.
When police arrived and apprehended Torres, she refused to give them any other information than her name and did not have any form of identification on her, Winn said.
”As long as you properly ID yourself we’ll give you a ticket and you can walk away,” Winn said. ”It’s a promise to go to court so we know who we’re prosecuting… But she wouldn’t so she went to jail, booking photos and all.”’
While police found witnesses at the scene who knew her and could verify she was who she said she was, they still didn’t know her exact address.
Torres also attempted to intimidate the people around her into not speaking with law enforcement, Winn said.
”She was threatening to put curses and hexes on them,” he said.
After booking Torres into the county jail, her fingerprints were taken and used to confirm her identity.
She was released Wednesday on her own recognizance and is required to go to court for the shoplifting ticket, Winn said.
