An Hermès Mini Kelly, the luxury handbag touted on social media as a “holy grail” for collectors, was nearly stolen from a room at The Breakers Palm Beach Resort — until the room’s occupants arrived and foiled the theft, an arrest report said.
The handbag was worth $32,500, according to a police report.
A man and woman from the Chicago suburb of Melrose Park, Illinois, were arrested April 12 at the high-end historic resort, according to court records. He faces a felony burglary charge and a misdemeanor larceny charge, and she faces felony charges of burglary and grand theft, according to jail records.
The man is a social media influencer whose now-unavailable Instagram account touted his love of handbags and had more than 360,000 followers before its apparent removal.
Both 35-year-olds were released April 13 from the Palm Beach County Jail, with his bond set at $2,000 and hers at $20,000, jail records show. They were ordered to have no contact with the guests from whom police say the pair tried to steal.
A Palm Beach Police officer was called to the resort about 1:41 a.m. April 12 by a guest who said he caught the man and woman leaving his room and carrying items belonging to the guest and his wife, an arrest report said.
The guest told officers that when he and his wife spotted the man and woman, they told the pair to give back the items they took from their room, the arrest report said.
The woman returned to the man the Mini Kelly handbag along with a Chanel purse worth $1,500, lotion worth $20 and a make-up mirror worth $25, an arrest report said. The man pulled $385 from his pocket and gave it back to the guest, the report said.
The guest told police that the two people did not have permission to be in his room. Security-camera footage from The Breakers showed the man and woman entering the room about 1:28 a.m., then leaving to be confronted by the guest and his wife, the arrest report said.
It’s unclear if the man and woman who were arrested were staying at the resort. It’s also unclear how the pair accessed the room. Both have pleaded not guilty, court records show.
Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Breakers Palm Beach guests foil theft of $32,500 Hermès bag from room
Reporting by Kristina Webb, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Post
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