Doris Payne, 86-Year-Old Jewel Thief, Arrested In Georgia

Doris Payne, a notorious jewel thief and subject of the documentary The Life and Crimes of Doris Payne, was arrested in Georgia after stealing $86 worth of merchandise from a Walmart this week, according to the BBC. Payne allegedly attempted to steal only food and medical supplies, as opposed to her usual target, jewelry.

Payne is estimated to have stolen $2 million in jewelry over the course of her life and recently plead guilty to stealing a $2,000 diamond necklace from a department store located in a suburb of Atlanta. For her crime, she was sentenced to house arrest and was banned from shopping hubs in the city.

When she was arrested this week, she was wearing the ankle monitor from her previous arrest. Payne has since been released on bail.

“This is a sharp contrast to all the cases in the past. We’re not talking about high-end jewelry,” her attorney Drew Findling told local press. “We’re talking about what an 86-year-old woman needs to survive on a day-to-day basis, food supplies and medical supplies.”

Stealing her first diamond when she was 23-years-old, Payne has never shied away from admitting to her crimes.

“Ask any officer – have I ever been arrested and lied?” Payne told CBS in 2015.

Payne’s first arrest came in 1952 and she has served several stints in jail during her lifetime. Still she always seems to return to a life of crime.

“There’s never been a day that I went to steal that I did not get what I went to do,” she said in the 2013 documentary.

Officials claim that she has used at least 22 different aliases to help her steal during the course of her criminal career.

Her biggest known theft came in the 1970s when she was arrested for clipping a $500,000 diamond ring. After the attempted heist, the Jewelers Security Alliance sent out a notice, warning jewelers about the serial thief.