The old woman trained the cat squad to become “super thieves”, with a “stealing” dish up to 14 billion dong

An 83-year-old woman living in the US has been arrested and charged with training dozens of cats to steal jewelry and other valuables from neighbors.

Portrait of old lady Ruth Gregson

The Columbus police department then opened an investigation into Ruth Gregson and her 65 cats after receiving complaints from some of the old woman’s neighbors.

Some victims said they had seen Gregson’s cat visit before noticing the disappearance of some shiny objects, such as cutlery and valuable jewelry.

After conducting an investigation, Colombus County officers were surprised to discover that the cats themselves had stolen the valuables.

According to Columbus Sheriff Kim Jacobs, dozens of cats are constantly coming and going, bringing home “anything that sparkles.” One officer said: “She was like Fagin in Oliver Twist, but using cats as thieves instead of children. In less than three hours of monitoring, detectives saw cats bring home more than a hundred different items. “

Gregson is the first person in American history to be charged with training cats to steal

When investigating Ms. Gregson’s home, investigators found many jewelry, even an item worth $650,000 (VND 14 billion) was also found. A total of 65 adult cats and 17 kittens were found on the site and assigned to the Humane Society of Columbus.

According to Columbus Police, Ms. Gregson’s cats are believed to have stolen more than 5,000 homes in the area.

Sheriff Jacobs said the elderly woman confessed to training her cats to steal, saying the cats had to earn their meals: “She will only feed the animals if they bring home valuables, so the animals have to steal every day to survive. Most of them are malnourished, looking very pitiful. so the cats will easily gain the pity of their neighbors and be allowed into their homes.”