An alert fellow shopper helped nab a suspect who allegedly snatched a 73-year-old Villager’s wallet from her purse at Bed Bath & Beyond.
The Villager had been shopping in the store at about 4 p.m. Tuesday when a fellow shopper told the Villager that she saw a man reach in and remove a wallet from the woman’s purse which had been left in a shopping cart.
The women followed 49-year-old Michael Stacy Hughes to the parking lot and began yelling for someone to call law enforcement. Hughes got on a motorcycle and began to ride away, according to an arrest report from the Lady Lake Police Department.
The fellow shopper took a photo of Hughes and another shopper shot a video.
An officer caught Hughes a few stores away, but Hughes did not have the wallet which had contained $115 cash. The wallet was not found in the area around the store.
It was determined that Hughes was already on felony probation for grand theft and burglary.
He was taken into custody and booked at the Lake County Jail.
