'Mockery of the system': woman with 108 arrests free again after recent shoplifting arrest

A New York City woman who has declared herself a “professional" thief was  arrested again Wednesday for allegedly stealing from the same Manhattan drugstore 10 times, only to be released late Thursday.

42-year-old Michelle Mckelley was charged with 10 separate charges of petty larceny from a single Rite Aid, bring her up to 108 arrests.

Petit larceny is a misdemeanor in New York and therefore not eligible for monetary bail under soft-on-crime bail reforms passed by the state in 2022. Mayor Eric Adams and the New York City Police Department have advocated to have it amended so that judges can hold repeat offenders.

“She has 108 arrests!” one police source told the New York Post.

“What are they waiting for 200 arrests to hold her? When does it stop? It’s making a mockery of the system.”

Police say Mckelley’s alleged shoplifting spree at the Rite Aid at Second Avenue and East 96th Street began Apr. 21 and totaled an estimated $1,375 in items.

Judge Lumarie Maldonado-Cruz of Manhattan Criminal Court chose to let McKelley go on supervised release after her arraignment Thursday, where she pleaded guilty to one count of petit larceny and three counts of disorderly conduct.

The judge congratulated her for moving from a women’s shelter to her own place since her last arrest in February, where she was arrested for allegedly stealing from a Target in her 96th arrest. She was out on supervised released in another petit larceny at the time.

She told the officers who arrested her then, “I’m a professional booster,” using slang for shoplifting, alleged prosecutors.

“Y’all are stopping my hustle.”

Mckelley is required to attend five sessions of a program for recidivist offenders or risk a 90-day jail sentence.

On Tuesday, Mayor Adams called on the public to support police and bail reforms in the face of rising crime and “defund the police” advocates.