A 72-year-old woman was arrested Sunday after deputies say she stole designer bags and jewelry from the Saks Fifth Avenue store at Waterside Shops in North Naples, sheriff’s reports said.Bette S. Bauer of Bonita Springs was charged with grand theft.
Arrest reports gave this account:
A store security employee watched Bauer conceal a Prada wallet in her purse and then remove it when Bauer noticed the employee watching her.
Bauer then attempted to return two pairs of shoes for cash, but was informed she could not return the shoes, which she purchased Sunday, because her check had not yet been processed.
She received a store gift card instead. She then purchased the same shoes she had just returned.
Bauer also attempted to purchase a Prada bag and wallet, but her check was denied. She attempted to pay for the bag and wallet with a credit card, which was also denied.
Bauer then walked over to the handbag display and selected two Prada wallets. She walked over to a chair, sat down and put both wallets inside a Saks shopping bag that contained the shoes she had just purchased. Bauer got up and selected a tan Bottega Veneta purse and left the store without paying for the purse, leaving the purse she brought in with her next to the chair. She put the shopping bag and the Bottega Veneta purse inside her car.
She returned to the store and picked up her purse beside the chair. She then went to the Chanel boutique, where she attempted to purchase a black Chanel bag using a check. While the sales associate was in the back processing the check, Bauer removed a pearl Chanel necklace from a display rack and placed it inside her purse. She also removed a black Chanel handbag and concealed it inside her purse.
When the sales associate told Bauer her check had been declined, Bauer went to the women’s accessory department, where she selected another piece of merchandise which she attempted to purchase with a check, which was declined, and then a credit card, which was also declined.
Bauer then left the store with the items she had concealed in her purse without paying for them.
The store security employee confronted Bauer in the parking lot where she allowed him to
recover the Bottega Veneta purse and the two Prada wallets along with the stolen items that were inside her purse, reports said.
