Police: Couple used boy to help steal woman's purse

It may make you question how low will people go. Winter Haven Police say a boy, probably less than 10-years-old, stole a purse from a woman in motorized scooter at a Walmart on Cypress Gardens Blvd in Winter Haven.

But they say he wasn't acting alone. Detectives say two adults, a man and a woman, put him up to it.

"When you have people who are in charge of children, and encourage them to steal, and encourage them to commit crime, where does it stop?" asked Winter Haven Police Spokesman, Jamie Brown.

Investigators say the man distracted the woman with small talk, while the kid grabbed the purse. He and the woman he was with told the victim that they were going after the boy.

Video surveillance shows the boy run out of the store and across the parking lot to a car. It also shows the woman, and man with a little girl walking out, getting into the same car, and driving away.

A short time later, the woman's credit card was used at a Walmart in Haines City, and at a store in Dundee, where they found the victim's empty wallet .

Winter Haven Police are looking for the group now. They suspect that the people pulled off a similar robbery in Lakeland recently.

Anyone with information about the identities of the suspects should call Det. Mike Leonard at 863-401-2256. You may also be eligible for a cash reward through Heartland Crime Stoppers: 1-800-226-TIPS (8477).