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Police: Woman Steals Fur By Hiding It In Underwear

By Caroline Lowe, WCCO-TV

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (WCCO) -- A female shoplifting suspect hid a stolen mink coat in her underwear while she was in jail for three days.

Stephanie Moreland was arrested New Year's Eve by Bloomington Police after the Alaskan Fur Company reported a short mink coat was stolen by a woman who had been in the store and acting suspiciously.

One of the sales associates, Simona Storchak, confronted Moreland when she saw a $6500 coat was missing. She said Moreland denied having the coat and took off. Storchak wrote down the license plate on the woman's car and called police.

When Bloomington officers located the car a short time later, they found a hanger from the store, but no coat. They searched her for weapons and booked her into their jail for the weekend on theft charges.

Three days later, a detective interviewed Moreland who admitted she stole the coat but claim she had already sold it.

When the investigator informed Moreland he would be sending her to the Hennepin County Jail downtown, he was shocked when she lifted up her dress and pulled out the mink coat from her underwear.

"She had modified her underwear. She actually cut the rear of the underwear out so that from the back it appeared she was not wearing underwear and then stuffed it down the front," said Bloomington Police Commander Mark Stehlik.

Stehlik said the suspect, who is 46 years old, weighs about 270 pounds which helped make it easier for her to conceal the short jacket.

WCCO-TV's Caroline Lowe Reports

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