Capriati Cited After Walking Out Without Paying for $15 Ring

Jennifer Capriati received a citation for walking away from a shopping mall booth wearing a $15 silver ring she was trying on, her agent, Barbara Perry, said Friday.

The citation, given to Capriati on Thursday at the Tampa Bay Center Mall, carried no civil or criminal penalties and requires no further action.

Capriati, 17, the world’s ninth-ranked women’s tennis player, was trying on rings with a friend at a booth in the mall. She was already wearing several of her own rings, Perry said.

“She inadvertently walked away with one of the rings from the booth still on her finger,” Perry said. “When stopped after she and her friends left the booth, she discovered she was still wearing the ring and the ring was returned.”

Because Capriati is a juvenile, police and mall security officials said they could not discuss the incident.

According to an eyewitness, Capriati had no reaction when two mall security guards approached her and asked about the ring. “She didn’t get angry,” the witness said. “She wasn’t hollering, ‘No, I didn’t do it,’ or anything like that. She was very calm.”