82 Year Old Woman Suspected in Southern California Crime Spree

By Larry Altman, THE DAILY BREEZE

Credit: Police booking photo

Doris Thompson, 82

September 3, 2012 Updated Sep 3, 2012 at 9:24 AM PDT

Two years ago, 80-year-old Doris Thompson did something unheard of in a Torrance, California courtroom: She thanked the judge for sentencing her to three years in prison and asked if she would be serving the entire sentence.

"I feel guilty for asking this," Thompson asked Judge Thomas Sokolov, "Is this a solid three years or is it just half-time?"

Thompson unabashedly pleaded guilty Feb. 24, 2010, apparently thankful, prosecutors said, to be going back to prison. She had spent most of her life behind bars and was ready to go back for her final years.

"I'm 80 years old," Thompson told the judge. "I don't think I'll ever come back - except I'm going to die and be in the morgue."

Thompson's sentence, however, for break-ins at doctors' offices in Torrance did not prove to be a life sentence. Prison officials released her on parole in November.

And then the crimes started up again.

On Thursday, Torrance detectives tracked the now 82-year-old woman down at a motel in El Segundo, arresting her for another series of burglaries at doctors' offices in Torrance that netted her $17,000 since March.

There's much more to this story, to read it at the Daily Breeze, CLICK HERE.

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