Bangor and Waterville police are investigating similar reports of shoppers having their wallets stolen from their shopping carts while they are distracted by another shopper who appears to have been involved in the thefts.

A Hudson woman reported that she had been at Wal-Mart sometime between 1 and 1:30 p.m. Wednesday and that she noticed another woman always seemed to be in the same aisles that she was. This other woman struck up a conversation with her for a few minutes and they went their separate ways. When the woman reached the register, she realized her purse was gone, she told Bangor police Officer Catherine Rumsey. The purse contained credit cards, her identification and $13 in cash, among other things.

About an hour earlier, Rumsey had taken a complaint from a Bangor woman who said that she had been shopping at Kmart and believed she had been distracted by another shopper while her purse, containing $59 in cash, was taken. Both women had similar descriptions of the shopper they suspect diverted their attention from their valuables.

The description also matched that of a woman involved in similar diversions at the Wal-Mart in Waterville, Rumsey learned from Waterville police Detective Charles Rumsey, her brother. In Waterville, according to the police report, the woman is accompanied by a man who takes the purses and runs into the men’s room where he removes the cash and discards the rest in a trash can.

Rumsey reported that an employee in the Bangor Wal-Mart checked the men’s room and indeed found the woman’s wallet, with the cash missing, but the credit cards still there. Also recovered was a gold pocket watch that had been in the wallet.

The woman has been described as being heavy-set, about 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 180 pounds with blond hair.

In light of these thefts and the potential for others, authorities recommend that shoppers take precautions to protect their valuables and keep a close eye on any valuables while they are shopping.

Compiled by NEWS reporter Doug Kesseli