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Thursday, November 12, 2026Nov 12

Police: Notorious 86-year-old jewel thief strikes again

FILE -In this Jan. 11, 2016 file photo, Doris Payne poses for a photo in Atlanta. Police just outside Atlanta say a notorious 86-year-old jewel thief has struck again. Dunwoody, Ga., police say Payne was arrested Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016, at a Von Maur department store where police report she put a $2,000 necklace in her back pocket and tried to leave the store. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)
FILE -In this Jan. 11, 2016 file photo, Doris Payne poses for a photo in Atlanta. Police just outside Atlanta say a notorious 86-year-old jewel thief has struck again. Dunwoody, Ga., police say Payne was arrested Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016, at a Von Maur department store where police report she put a $2,000 necklace in her back pocket and tried to leave the store. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File) FILE -In this Jan. 11, 2016 file photo, Doris Payne poses for a photo in Atlanta. Police just outside Atlanta say a notorious 86-year-old jewel thief has struck again. Dunwoody, Ga., police say Payne was arrested Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016, at a Von Maur department store where police report she put a $2,000 necklace in her back pocket and tried to leave the store. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

ATLANTA (AP) – Police just outside Atlanta say a notorious 86-year-old jewel thief has struck again.

Dunwoody police say Doris Payne was arrested Tuesday at a Von Maur department store. A police report says Payne put a $2,000 necklace in her back pocket and tried to leave the store.

Authorities have said Payne has lifted pricey baubles from countless jewelry stores around the world in an illicit career that has spanned six decades. She was the subject of a 2013 documentary, “The Life and Crimes of Doris Payne.”

When asked about her exploits in an interview with The Associated Press earlier this year, she said simply: “I was a thief.”

Online jail records did not show any bond information, and it wasn’t immediately clear whether Payne had an attorney who could comment.