Thursday, October 15, 2009

Mental illness triggered shopping spree

An Ohio clothing store reopened on Wednesday, one day after hundreds of people came to the store looking to get free merchandise from a woman who claimed she won the lottery.

Workers at Burlington Coat Factory, located on East Main Street, spent most of Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon cleaning the mess after hundreds of people left.

The woman, who has not beed identified because she was not charged, was in court on Wednesday morning on previous charges, including making false 911 calls. She is awaiting a mental evaluation.



Police were called in to control the crowd after it became apparent the woman did not win the lottery and did not have the money to pay for anything.

The woman's daughter, Quaiana Robinson, said that the intentions were not malicious and that her mother suffers from a mental illness. "I want people to know my mom was not in her right mind," Quiana Robinson said. "She has not been on her medication."

Robinson said that she and her siblings feel terrible about what has happened but wanted the people affected to know that her mother meant no harm. "We've never experienced anything like this," Robinson said. "She's not a crazy type of person who goes out and causes trouble. She wanted to help people she just didn't have the means to help."

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