A woman visiting Miami last weekend had her possessions snatched, and the person responsible went on an expensive spending spree at multiple spots with the stolen credit card in the purse.
According to 6 South Florida, Marisoll Hernandez, a tourist visiting from Puerto Rico, was sitting inside a Miami restaurant and had her Black Gucci purse stolen from right under her nose after a woman lifted the bag unnoticed. The incident was caught on surveillance video. The theft took place on Friday, Jan. 12.
Her purse contained a Gucci wallet with her credit card, $1,200 cash, and a pair of Cartier glasses valued at almost $4,000.
A chef and writer, Hernandez was in town promoting her book Enamorada.
“They took my things, you know — they are material things, but they are still yours,” Hernandez told the media outlet. “You feel frustrated.”
The culprit also used her credit cards and most likely spent the cash in Hernandez’s purse.
“The person did went shopping that night and they had fun with my money and my credit cards,” Hernandez said.
Police officials stated that the suspect stopped at several locations to make purchases with the credit card. The estimated total was about $1,800.
“This is something that happens more often than we think,” Miami Police spokesperson Mike Vega said. “Women go to places, they put their purses on the chair thinking it’s there, it’s safe, you know, I can feel if someone reaches for it, and it really doesn’t happen that way.”
Although there was an Apple AirTag in the bag and she could track the device, it still wasn’t enough to locate the thief.
“It was in an apartment building that it was pinging,” Vega said. “In order for us to go into an apartment building and knock door by door, we would have to get a court order. There’s certain procedures that we gotta do in order to do this.”
The theft didn’t dampen Hernandez’s spirits completely, but she does want justice for her items being stolen.
“I know I cannot have my things back — money is money, credit cards are credit cards,” she said. “It will be solved, but I really want justice.”
Police officials state that when once suspect is caught, she will face grand theft charges.
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