5 Things To Know About Doris Payne, Infamous Jewel Thief

DECATUR, GA -- Octogenarian jewel thief Doris Payne is back in the news this week after being arrested for allegedly shoplifting from a Walmart in DeKalb County. Payne, 86, is well known to metro Atlanta law enforcement and even internationally for her prolific exploits in lifting expensive jewelry from upscale stores.

Payne was re-arrested on a parole violation one day after briefly bonding out of a jail on a theft charge at the Walmart. What happens to her next is up to a DeKalb County judge.

In a more than half a century of crime, Payne has managed to largely avoid the rugged life of a prisoner, slipping in and out of custody only to gingerly approach various jewelry stores despite massive security.

Nothing sheds more light on how a little girl from a rural town transformed into an infamous thief with a penchant for Cartier and Gucci than the documentary "The Life And Crimes Of Doris Payne," which is streaming on Netflix. Here are five things, many of them culled from the film, about Payne, who lives in the metro area.

Her childhood shaped her view of the 'haves' and 'have-nots' of society: She was born in a coal mining camp in West Virginia in 1930 to a black father an a mother of Cherokee Native-American heritage. According to the documentary, it was an abusive family. Additionaly, she came up in a racially segregated town that offered African-Americans no real chance of achieving the American dream.

She was determined that she was going to be a 'have': "My childhood got me in the stores," she says in the documentary. "I practiced those things in my playhouse. As a little girl I liked to dress up. I had my purse and my hat."

She calls her exploits 'campaigns': "When I'm preparing to go on a campaign, I'm preparing to play the part of somebody else," she says in the documentary. "There's never been a day that I went to steal where I did not get what I went to do."

She is banned from all malls in DeKalb County: After appearing in court for allegedly swiping a $2,000 necklace from the Von Maur store in Dunwoody, DeKalb Superior Court Judge Linda Hunter told Payne: "You are banned from Von Maur, any location, not just in DeKalb County." She added, "You cannot return not only to Perimeter Mall but you cannot shop at any DeKalb County mall."

She was not publicly shown remorse for her life of crime. "I don't have any regrets about stealing jewelry. I regret getting caught," she says in one of the more shocking lines in the documentary,

Bonus: She has health issues: Her lawyers have successfully argued that prison time would detrimentally affect Payne's health. Despite her prolific record of shopping, she has undisclosed medical problems that are serious in nature.

Payne has a long history of mischief, including being wanted in several states and even internationally for shoplifting and other offenses. Her exploits border on the comical -- she reportedly pulled off a heist in Switzerland and escaped "through cornfields" -- to the improbable -- she once claimed to have lifted a 10-carat, $545,000 diamond ring out of Monte Carlo in the early 1970s.

Read more: Warrant issued for 86-year-old jewel thief in DeKalb

Read more: Granny Gem Thief Doris Payne Banned From DeKalb Malls

Read more: Doris Payne Arrested By DeKalb Fugitive Squad

Read more: Jewel Thief, 86, At It Again, Police Say

Image via DeKalb Sheriff's Office, Cleveland PD / Patch file photo