Doris Payne, 86-Year-Old Jewelry Thief, Banned From Atlanta Malls

Doris Payne, an 86-year-old legendary jewel thief, was banned Wednesday from Atlanta-area malls as part of a plea deal for stealing a $2,000 necklace in December.

After her initial arrest for taking the necklace, Payne said she was just walking through the store, not intending to take anything, when a saleswoman set the necklace down on the counter and walked away, NBC News reported.

“She left it laying there,” Payne said incredulously, NBC reported. “That’s where I picked it up from.”

Payne later denied taking the necklace out of the store at all and claimed the security guard stopped her inside the store with the necklace, NBC News said. Police reported she put the necklace in her back pocket and tried to leave the store.

Payne was released on $15,000 bond after her arrest but was taken into custody a few weeks later when she missed a court date. Payne said she was ill on the date in question and could not attend. “I ain’t runnin’,” Payne told the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. “I’ve never in my life been late for court.”

Payne was declared too ill to stand trial in another case against her, which alleged she took earrings from Phipps Plaza, the AJC reported.

Payne was the subject of a 2013 Netflix documentary called “The Life and Times of Doris Payne,” in which she describes her crimes.

Payne has 20 arrests on her record. She could have gotten 10 years for her theft of the necklace, but instead the judge gave her time served and house arrest, along with the ban from jewelry stores and malls in the area, NBC reported.

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