Police arrest ‘Hugging Bandit’ Officials say womanused hugs for thefts By Vanessa Thomas NEWS STAFF REPORTER Updated: 05/16/07 7:05 AM The 200-plus-pound hugging machine — whose hearty embraces have been relieving men of their wallets — is now doing all her hugging behind bars, police said. Buffalo police revealed Tuesday that they have arrested the woman known as “the Hugging Bandit,” who made headlines across the world. Myra Castleberry, 48, of Andover Avenue, is being held in Erie County Holding Center without bail. For the past decade, the bandit has targeted dozens of unsuspecting men in the city’s entertainment district, hugging tipsy men leaving Chippewa Street bars, distracting them by fondling them and then secretly stealing their wallets. The bandit typically struck between 2 and 4 a.m. and used credit cards from her victims’ wallets within hours of the thefts. Police, who spent the past few months searching for her, apprehended Castleberry over the weekend. “Hopefully, she’ll be hugging her pillow in her prison cell for a long time,” said Detective Sgt. Tom Donovan of the Central Police District. “It’s time for the Hugging Bandit to think about her evil ways as she sits in a prison cell for a while.” Castleberry — a twice-convicted felon — is scheduled to appear Friday in Buffalo City Court for a felony hearing. Sunday night, Officers Julie Lewdin and Thomas McCarthy tracked Castleberry to Fillmore Avenue, where they arrested her on a felony warrant charging grand larceny. They also charged her with misdemeanor false impersonation for giving them a false name, address and date of birth. Police consider Castleberry the prime suspect in dozens of hugging incidents over the past decade. More charges could be filed if police are able to connect her to those crimes. Castleberry has been arrested 17 times between 1998 and 2005. Police said she been arrested for similar ploys in the past and has been convicted in Buffalo City Court of criminal possession of stolen property and prostitution. In February, an article about the Hugging Bandit that appeared in The Buffalo News caught the attention of news outlets from San Francisco to Long Island. It was featured on CNN, Fox News and in newspapers as far away as the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. After the media splash, Castleberry struck about three more times in a new neighborhood, police believe. Instead of Chippewa Street, she began targeting men leaving bars along Allen Street, near Elmwood Avenue, over the past few months, police said. The warrant police used to arrest her stems from an incident in August 2005, when she is accused of approaching a Town of Tonawanda man at Delaware Avenue and West Tupper Street, fondling him and stealing $238. “When he read the story in the newspaper, he called us,” Donovan said. “We set up a photo array, and he picked her out immediately. He said, ‘I’ll never forget a face.’ ” But that’s not the case for most of the men she targeted. “Most of her victims were so drunk they couldn’t identity her,” Donovan said.
LOL, she's quite some talent eh? I'd be less impressed if she was a hot gorgeous woman rather than a 200-plus pound female No wonder she's picked on all those drunk men...
Hmmm ... so if she was a 21 year old gorgeuos looking female, you will let her pick your lock ... -bigsmile ehhh ... I mean pocket ...
yea.. gotta say it's so unexpected this kinda stuff.. fell for it once myself haha..(when girls hug you, hold your valuable stuff tight!)
Lmfao good random joke. I liked how this article started off itself "The 200-plus-pound hugging" and instead of a 48 year old woman... Mr. T pities the fool who makes fun of an overweight burglar.
