A Gainesville woman and man were arrested Sunday after a purse-snatching incident in a Publix parking lot, and in a continuing investigation, police say at least one was also connected to fraudulently used credit cards.
According to a GPD arrest report, Stephanie Ann Cleary, 24, and Clifford Bailey Taylor, 28, were booked into the Alachua County Jail on charges of robbery by sudden snatching. Cleary was also charged with fraudulent/illegal use of credit cards.
Chelsea Megan Snyder was just getting out of a car as Janet Groesbeck, who was parked in front of Snyder at the Publix located at 5200 NW 43rd St., walked up to her own vehicle with groceries.
Before Groesbeck began unloading her cart, Snyder said, a man ran up to her and grabbed her purse. He ran to a white truck, climbed in and was driven away.
An officer followed the truck down Northwest 39th Avenue and stopped it at the Boys & Girls Club of Alachua County. The officer found Cleary at the wheel and Taylor in the passenger’s seat.
Another officer identified the pair as the same people suspected of taking a wallet from the Target parking lot Sunday afternoon.
They had also allegedly used stolen credit cards around town, GPD spokesman Officer Ben Tobias wrote in an email.
On Friday, a GPD officer also identified Cleary in three surveillance videos, where she used a credit card that didn’t belong to her to make small purchases at two convenience stores and Family Dollar, according to another arrest report.
The investigation is continuing, Tobias said.
As of press time, Cleary and Taylor both remained at the jail with bonds set at $12,000 and $10,000, respectively.
A version of this story ran on page 8 on 10/16/2013 under the headline "Purse stealers arrested"
