A woman has been arrested following police investigations into handbags being stolen in shopping centres in the state's west.
Officers attached to Orana Mid-Western Police District have been investigating complaints in relation to handbags allegedly being stolen from public toilets, mostly from older females.
About 2.35pm on Saturday 22 June 2019, a 51-year-old woman entered a female bathroom of a Dubbo shopping centre and hung her mobile phone case, with an attached wallet, to the inside of the cubicle door.
Whilst inside the cubicle, an unknown woman reached her hand over the top of the cubicle door and removed the phone case before leaving the bathroom. Shortly after, the woman made several purchases using the 51-year-old woman's bank cards.
Following inquiries, a 32-year-old woman was identified from CCTV footage within the shopping centre.
At 10.50am yesterday (Thursday 25 July 2019), police executed a search warrant at a home on Elizabeth Street, Wellington and recovered various items of clothing worn by the woman at the time of the offence.
At 8am today (Friday 26 July 2019), the 32-year-old woman was arrested in Wellington and charged with two counts of steal from person and two counts of dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception.
She was refused bail and will appear in Dubbo Local Court to appear in court today (Friday 26 July 2019).
Anyone who believes they may have been a victim to a crime such as this is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or their local police station.
