Report: Man Stole Purse From Doctor's Office

Officers arrested a Cayce man who they say stole a purse from behind the receptionist desk at a doctor's office in Lexington. 

Curtis Lee Rivers Jr., 43, was in the waiting area at Pain Specialists of South Carolina on Caughman Farm Road around 5:30 p.m. Dec. 18 with his brother and sister-in-law, according to a Lexington Police Department report. An employee at the doctor's office left the front to take Rivers' sister-in-law back to a room.

Rivers' brother told deputies that he went to the restroom, and when he came back, Rivers pointed out a purse sitting behind the receptionist desk. He told Rivers not to do anything stupid, according to the report. Rivers then jumped through the window of the receptionist area and grabbed the employee's purse. 

When the employee returned from the back, she saw Rivers standing in the locked receptionist area holding her purse, according to the report. She told deputies she screamed at Rivers and told him not to take her purse, but Rivers jumped through the window, left the building and ran toward Lowe's and Kohl's.

The employee then called the sheriff's department. When deputies arrived, she told them a black male with a low haircut, wearing blue jeans, a brown sweatshirt and brown boots stole her purse.

An officer found Rivers' brother sitting in his car outside the doctor's office, according to the report. He confirmed that his brother had stolen the purse and gave deputies his brother's name and a description of him. 

After Rivers left the doctor’s office, he went to Kohl’s, took the victim’s wallet from the purse and left the purse on the ground outside the store, according to the report. He went into the men’s bathroom, took the victim’s driver’s license and debit cards from the wallet and threw the wallet in the trash can. 

An officer saw a man matching the description of Rivers leaving Kohl's and entering Office Depot, according to the report. When the deputy followed Rivers into Office Depot, he saw him placing items on a shelf at the back of the store. 

An employee at the store found the victim's license and debit cards on the shelf, according to the report. The officer arrested Rivers. 

Officers found the victim's purse outside near Kohl's, according to the report. The assistant manager of Kohl's later found the victim's wallet in the trash can in the men's bathroom at the store. 

Rivers was charged with petit larceny and financial transaction card theft.