RUSKIN, Fla. — A woman is accused of using her psychic services as a ruse to rob fortunes from unsuspecting victims, including the theft of $12,000 from one person. authorities said.
According to Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office online booking records, Carola Mitchell, 52, of Avondale, Arizona, was arrested on June 10. She was charged with robbery with a firearm, kidnapping while in possession of a firearm, and three out-of-county warrants from Lee County.
Mitchell is accused of stealing $12,000 from a woman in Ruskin on May 16, according to an arrest warrant.
PSYCHIC ARRESTED 🚔 52-year-old Carola Mitchell reportedly used her services as a ruse to gain entrance into a woman's home before robbing her at gunpoint, authorities said. https://t.co/IrF3SAG5gN
— 10 Tampa Bay (@10TampaBay) June 26, 2024
Deputies said that Mitchell went to the victim’s home at about 12:42 p.m. EDT and asked her where she could buy some Mexican food, WFLA-TV reported. She also asked the woman if she could enter the house to get some water, according to the television station.
Judith Ramirez told WTVT that Mitchell then offered her psychic services.
“She said something about that she could read her hand. I said ‘No I’m not interested in that.’ Then she started reading my forehead,” Ramirez told the television station. “I was just like ‘OK.’ I just ignored her.”
Her fortunes took a more dangerous turn moments later.
Ramirez said she left the room to tend to her child, while her 50-year-old mother-in-law decided to get a psychic reading, WTVT reported.
Deputies said Mitchell allegedly showed the victim her firearm and held it to her back, demanding money, WTSP-TV reported.
“She told her that if she doesn’t give (her) the money, she was going to hurt us, my baby and I,” Ramirez told WTVT. “And then (my mother-in-law is) like, ‘OK,’ so she gave her the money.”
An arrest affidavit stated that Mitchell told deputies that “drives around Hispanic communities and knocks on doors to offer her fortune-telling and spirit services.”
Deputies said Mitchell used the sales pitch as “a ruse to gain entry into victim’s homes to commit robberies or thefts of cash and jewelry,” according to the television station.
According to court records, Mitchell provided potential victims with her cellphone number so they could contact her later to request her services. That led prosecutors to request a search warrant, as they said the phone could have placed Mitchell at the Ruskin residence at the time of the robbery and also contained messages from other victims.
Security cameras from a nearby home captured a white Nissan Rogue leaving the area at about the time the robbery occurred, WFLA reported. The driver’s description matched the victim’s description of Mitchell.
On June 10, Mitchell was observed driving the Nissan in nearby Bradenton and was arrested, according to the television station.
In an interview, Mitchell allegedly admitted to deputies that she used WhatsApp to get fraudulent Texas temporary tags for the Nissan, WTSP reported.
Mitchell remains in the Falkenburg Road Jail in Tampa without bail, online booking records show.
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