The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff Reports

Posted: Monday, January 01, 2018 12:25 PM

Notorious International Jewel Bandit "Granny" Arrested Again For Shoplifting At Georgia Walmart North of Atlanta
The notorious international jewel bandit dubbed "granny gem thief" was back in custody on Monday after shoplifting at a Georgia Walmart, police said.

Doris Payne, 86, was arrested at a Walmart in Chamblee, 16 miles north of Atlanta, after an officer spotted her shoving items into her purse, Fox 5 Atlanta reported. She allegedly shoplifted $86.22 worth of items from the store's pharmacy, electronics and grocery departments.

Payne was charged with multiple counts of theft by shoplifting.

Payne, whose rap sheet details more than 20 arrests, has stolen about $2 million worth of goods over the last six decades, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Her last run-in with the law was in March, when she failed to appear for an arraignment hearing for allegedly stealing a $2,000 necklace. She was then banned from all Atlanta-area malls.

In 2013, she told her story in the Netflix documentary "The Life and crimes of Doris Payne." Payne revealed details of her life starting from the first time she shoplifted at the age of 10 to when she took her thieving ways to countries including Greece, Switzerland and France. Her daughter and son also appeared in the film.

"There's never been a day that I went to steal that I did not get what I went to do," Payne said in the documentary.

Over the years she has served short sentences for her crimes before ultimately ending up behind bars again.