Women stole clothes from Coastland Center mall stores in Naples, police say

The women came prepared to slip in and out of Coastland Center mall in Naples without anyone noticing the stolen items under their skirts, police said.

From the minute Elbony Hudson and Cordidra Williams got to Coastland on Wednesday afternoon, undercover Naples police detectives had eyes on them, according to arrest reports.

Detectives said they followed the women, both of Pinellas County, in the mall and watched as they went into several stores.

They went into Abercrombie & Fitch and PacSun. At the latter, Hudson chose merchandise from the back of the store and Williams stood outside as a lookout, police said.

After leaving the stores, they went back to their burgundy Hyundai sedan, moved a few parking spots away and went back inside the mall. Officials said organized retail thieves use that tactic to get away before police arrive.

Detectives followed the women into a Victoria's Secret PINK store. The store's anti-theft alarm rang when they left the store, but they continued to their car again, reports state.

The women moved another few parking spots and parked in front of JC Penney.

A few minutes later, they ran  out of the mall and back to their car, the reports state. Detectives said they conducted a traffic stop and saw Williams take several clothing items out of a pair of stretchy shorts she wore underneath her clothes. That's when officials arrested them.

"By that time, I think they realized they were being followed and they ran out of the mall to try to get away," said Lt. Seth Finman, spokesman for Naples police.

Finman said investigators found more than $1,800 worth of clothing in the car from four stores.

Hudson told detectives she had been arrested three times before on charges of retail theft. Pinellas County court records state she has been arrested five times since 2006 on petty theft and grand theft charges.

Williams was arrested on suspicion of grand theft in 2012.

"What's interesting is that the women went to the mall dressed in long dresses or skirts, and they had spandex pants on underneath so they could load the pants with clothes and the skirts would conceal the bulges," Finman said.

Reports state that detectives arrested the women in response to a recent rash of organized retail theft groups targeting Coastland.

Finman said it is typical for retail theft groups to visit other counties to commit crimes.

Hudson and Williams were arrested Wednesday and posted bond Thursday. Court dates were set for Oct. 17.

In various police and court records, Hudson is referred to as Ebony and Elbony.