Sarasota Police Department plans to charge 52-year-old Chilean woman in connection with Dec. 26, 2025 incident
A person the Sarasota Police Department has identified as a career criminal, who is wanted in connection with a theft from a business on St. Armands Circle, was arrested on Jan. 2 following a traffic stop in Osceola County, the agency has announced.
“Margarita Elena Urriola Maldonado, 52, of Chile, is a suspect in coordinated pickpocketing and credit card fraud attempts,” a news release says.
Police Department charges against her are pending, the release adds.
She and two other suspects were seen in Dec. 26, 2025 surveillance footage from the St. Armands business, which the agency has not identified, the release continues.
The three suspects were recorded on video as they targeted “a mother caring for her newborn,” after they carefully selected a table next to the woman, the release points out. “When the mother stepped away, one suspect removed the victim’s wallet from a purse hanging on the back of the chair while the other two acted as lookouts. The three suspects then quickly left the area,” the release continues.
“Using surveillance images, Sarasota Police officers leveraged the resources of the [agency’s] Real-Time Operations Center (ROC) to develop a timeline of events” and then contacted the Bradenton Police Department, the release adds. Officers in Bradenton had reported “a similar theft involving the same three suspects later that day,” the release says.
Moreover, the release notes, ROC analysts found posts on Facebook showing three similar suspects on camera in Boca Raton the following day, Dec. 27, 2025, “stealing another wallet. With assistance from the Boca Raton Police Department, the suspects were later observed attempting to use stolen credit cards at an Apple store,” the release adds.
“You can tell by the techniques being used and how in sync these three suspects are working together,” said John Lake, manager of the Sarasota Police Department Real Time Operations Center, in the release. “In one case,” he pointed out, “you see the woman trying to cover her hand with a scarf as she sneaks her hand in the purse while the others serve as lookouts.”
The release explains, “Maldonado has a criminal history that includes fraudulent use of identification [and] credit cards, grand theft and money laundering in Utah, California, Ohio and New York.”
While the St. Armands incident initially was believed to be a misdemeanor petit theft, the release notes, “further investigation revealed the value of the stolen wallet and the attempted credit card transactions could result in up to four felony charges.”
After Maldonado was arrested in Osceola County, it continues, “officers recovered two items of clothing that connected the suspect to the theft in Sarasota.”
Detectives still are working to identify the two remaining suspects “as this case remains an active and ongoing investigation,” the release points out. “Anyone with any information is asked to call the Sarasota Police Department Criminal Investigations Division at 941-263-6070 or you can remain anonymous and call Crime Stoppers of Sarasota County at 941-366-TIPS (8477),” it adds.
The Sarasota News Leader this week was unable to find any record of Maldonado’s arrest through a search of the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office Corrections Division or the records of the Osceola County Clerk of Court’s Office.
The only criminal record the News Leader could locate about Maldonado through a Google search regarded her June 2017 arrest in Utah on charges of possessing a forgery writing device, identity fraud, obstruction of justice and theft by receipt of stolen property.