Columbia police have arrested a woman suspected in a string of purse thefts from shopping carts in area grocery stores in recent weeks.

Hampton

Emily B. Hampton, 34, of 4130 S. Lenoir St. was arrested Thursday on suspicion of two counts of felony stealing and one count of fraudulent use of a credit device after officers served a search warrant at a home at 811 N. Sixth St.

During the search, officers found items linking Hampton to purse thefts that occurred at about 12:10 p.m. Feb. 29 at Moser’s Discount Foods, 705 Business Loop 70 W., and at about 5:50 p.m. the same day at Wal-Mart Supercenter, 415 Conley Road.

In the Moser’s theft, officers used surveillance video from the store to help identify Hampton, according to court documents. In the video, a white woman with brown hair could be seen "following the victim’s cart around the store." Officers then saw the suspect lean toward the victim’s cart and moments later saw the woman with a brown purse matching the description of the one that was stolen.

The video then shows the woman leaving the store and getting into a white, four-door Pontiac. A surveillance video from Wal-Mart showed Hampton getting into a Pontiac Bonneville, which is registered to Hampton’s boyfriend, police said.

During the search of the North Sixth Street home, police also found merchandise believed to have been charged to a stolen credit card at Home Depot. The victim in the Wal-Mart theft told officers that $321.57 had been illegally charged at the store to her credit card.

Police suspect Hampton in four other thefts at grocery stores that occurred Feb. 29 and March 4 at Gerbes, 1729 W. Broadway; Feb. 29 at the Wal-Mart Supercenter at 1201 Grindstone Parkway; and March 8 at the Wal-Mart Supercenter at 3001 W. Broadway, Sgt. Ken Hammond said.

Hampton was released Sunday afternoon from the Boone County Jail after posting $10,000 bond.

Anyone with additional information is asked to contact CrimeStoppers at 874-8477 or online at 875tips.com.

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