New York Police Arrest Plus-Size 'Hugging Bandit'

The plus-size pickpocket known as the "Hugging Bandit" who put the squeeze on men and their wallets in upstate New York is finally behind bars.

The 'Hugging Bandit' targeted dozens of unsuspecting men outside bars over the years, distracting them in the wee hours of the morning by fondling them and then secretly stealing their wallets. She would use the victims' credit cards within hours of the thefts.

Myra Castleberry, 48, is being held without bail and police hope they had seen the last of a decade-long spree of thefts. Castleberry, who has been arrested 17 times between 1998 and 2005 and has two felony convictions, was suspected in the thefts, but police said most victims were too drunk to identify her.

That changed when a man called police after reading a February newspaper account and reported he had lost $238 to the Hugging Bandit in August 2005.

"We set up a photo array, and he picked her out immediately... Hopefully, she'll be hugging her pillow in her prison cell for a long time", Donovan said.

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