Crime & Safety

80-Year-Old May Stand Trial Over Santa Monica Jewelry Store Theft

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Friday.

An elderly woman might have to stand trial over allegations that she stole an expensive piece of jewelry from in October. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Friday in Los Angeles court.

Doris Payne, 80, faces one felony count of grand theft of personal property. In early February, she was sentenced to five years in state prison for lifting another piece of pricey jewelry from a Macy's store in Mission Valley.

Payne was also convicted for theft in Denver in 1999, and has two grand-theft convictions on her record, according to a criminal complaint filed in December.

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"You won't stop," San Diego Superior Court Judge Frank Brown told Payne at a February sentencing for grand theft and burglary. "That's the problem here. She's a thief. She's charming. Santa Claus' wife, that's who she is."

Payne is "uninhibited and boastful about her criminal career," according to a probation report.

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Regarding the Rafinity incident, Payne allegedly put the $16,000 ring down her shirt while at the jewelry store. The theft was later reported after it was discovered that the ring was missing, and surveillance video confirmed that it had been stolen.

In related news, in late April, a sales representative for a jewelry company was robbed of a reported $1.5 million worth of jewelry at 2025 Wilshire Blvd.

City News Service contributed to this report.


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