Woman Held in Pickpocket Robberies of Elderly Victims

A woman accused of picking the pockets of elderly men by approaching them in parking lots, striking up conversations and then fondling them while lifting jewelry and wallets was arrested late Monday afternoon, police said.

The woman, Kathy Stevens, 36, of Canoga Park, is suspected of committing at least 45 felony robberies in the last 18 months, most of them in the parking lots of San Fernando Valley malls, according to police.

Stevens, who was under police surveillance, was arrested after she allegedly attempted to rob a man at Fallbrook Mall. Police also arrested Peter John, 32, as an accomplice to the attempted robbery. Officers said John ran to help Stevens fight off the angry victim.

Stevens used the same method of operation described by a string of other robbery victims, according to Detective Ed Picor.

Doctor’s-Office Ruse

Victims told police that a young woman would first bump into them. After excusing herself, she would look at the man and express surprise that she recognized him from his visits to the doctor’s office where she worked.

Then, the woman would say that she no longer worked at the doctor’s office but missed all the patients. As she talked, the woman would move closer to the victim and begin to fondle him.

“The men were confused by this more that anything else,” said Pikor. “She fondled them to draw their attention away from what she was doing with her other hand. Before they could think of what to say, or while they were trying to place her in their minds, zap, their wallets were gone and she said goodby.”

Police estimated the victim’s losses at $30,000 or more in money and jewelry. Nine victims in West Los Angeles have reported similar thefts.

“We believe many more robberies like this have gone unreported because the victims are embarrassed or they think they have just lost their wallet,” Pikor said.

Technique With Women

The same doctor’s-office story was used in several robberies of elderly women, police said. With women, however, the suspect would divert attention away from the pickpocketing by offering to help carry groceries.

“She only hit on elderly people and always used the same story. It worked because most have a physician or several physicians,” Pikor said.

One recent victim took down the license plate of a car Stevens was driving, police said. Plainclothes officers were watching the car Monday when they witnessed the robbery attempt, according to police.

Both Stevens and John have used several aliases, police said.