Pickpocket steals wallet from customer’s purse

St Augustine Police public information officer Mark Samson reported to Historic City News that on Saturday, while local resident Cathy Brown was shopping at the Winn-Dixie Marketplace located at 3551 North Ponce de Leon Boulevard, an unknown person snagged her wallet from her purse, unnoticed.

Brown, who is the recently retired executive director of the St Johns Council on Aging, considers herself “situationally aware” and only realized her check card was missing when she received an alert from Prosperity Bank informing her that a charge was being made using the stolen card.

According to a text message Brown received on her smartphone, at 4:23 p.m., the card was being used at another Winn-Dixie location; at 2220 CR-210 West in the St Johns Commons shopping center.

St Augustine Police are investigating the crime and have obtained surveillance video from the St Johns Commons store. Brown cancelled her card with the bank and will not be responsible for any fraudulent charges attempted by the thief.

“If this can happen to me, it can happen to anyone,” Brown told Historic City News earlier today. “I can’t overstate the importance of keeping purses under control.” According to an update, Brown told reporters that since her post, “over 25 folks have weighed in with other horror stories”. Brown says, “We all must be vigilant.”

Hardly the “shrinking violet”, Brown vows to bring the person who stole her wallet and cards to justice — comments posted on her facebook by her many friends have strengthened her resolve and given her encouragement.

Anyone with information concerning this crime, or who may know the identity of person involved, is asked to contact the St Augustine Police Department at 904.825.1070. You can remain anonymous and possibly be eligible for a cash reward up to $1000 by calling CrimeStoppers of Northeast Florida at 1-(888) 277-TIPS.