Woodside’s “Cat Woman” arrested
Police arrested a Queens woman who allegedly donned a cat mask to rob shoe stores this summer.
Shanna Spalding, 28-year-old lead singer in death metal band whose stage name is “Purgatory,” was arrested Wednesday and charged with two robberies. She may face more charges, according to police. Around 2:15 p.m., members of the First Precinct’s Anti-Crime Unit spotted her leaving a store at 92 Greene St. in SoHo and recognized her as fitting the description of the suspect who had been dubbed the “cat woman robber.” An officer entered the store and was told by a sales clerk that she had just been robbed by a woman brandishing a gun.
The other officers in the unit continued to follow Ms. Spalding and when notified of the robbery by their partner, they arrested her without incident. Police said she was carrying a 9mm handgun at the time of her arrest.
The cat-masked robberies began at a Nine West shoe store at 71-34 Austin Street in Forest Hills on April 23, another at the Arche shore store at 10 Astor Place in the Village on June 24 and a third at The Body Shop, next door to the Nine West store in Forest Hills, on June 25. In the first two robberies, the robber presented a note to clerks reading, ‘I have a gun, give me the money.’ The robber made off with cash amounts up to $500, police said.
So far, police have only charged Ms. Spalding, of Woodside, with the Arche store robbery and the one on Greene Street, but officials say she could face more charges. Ms. Spalding was awaiting arraignment.
Batman is inconsolable.