Golden-aged jewel thief Doris Payne, who has racked up dozens of arrests in a headline-grabbing career, had a gem of an answer when she was asked about her latest run-in with the law.
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Doris Payne, 84, was arrested on October 23, 2015, for allegedly making off with a $690 Christian Dior diamond ring from Saks Fifth Avenue at Phipps Plaza Mall.
“There’s never been a day that I went to steal that I did not get what I went to do”, Payne said in a documentary “The Life and Crimes of Doris Payne”, released in 2013. A loss prevention specialist reported that he observed her on surveillance video, according to a police report.
She faces a charge of theft by shoplifting and was booked into the Fulton County jail. Atlanta police then learned that Payne is wanted in Charlotte for pocketing a $33,000 ring from a David Yurman jewelry store.
In October 2014, Payne admitted to a judge that she violated terms of that supervision by failing to report to her probation officer, due to “confusion”, her attorney, Gretchen von Helms, said at the time.
“We would look forward to obtaining her release and having her medical needs addressed as soon as possible”, he wrote in an email Tuesday. “Basically, she will have employees pull jewelry out of a display case”.
With a criminal record dating back to 1952, the 5-foot-5 octogenarian has seen her share of career achievements and pitfalls. “She goes in and she takes product from people, and it causes a lot of grief for people”.
“I don’t have any regrets about stealing jewelry”, she told the filmmakers. She stole diamonds because they were easiest, she said, and she was in it for the game, not the money.
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The 2013 documentary film chronicled Payne’s more than 60-year, $2 million career as a jewelry thief and how she “managed to jet-set her way into any Cartier or Tiffany’s from Monte Carlo to Japan and walk out with small fortunes”, according to the film’s website.
