A peculiar sight of a man wearing a dazzling evening gown on the side of a Palm Beach road led to his arrest.
Palm Beach County police spotted a 31-year-old man walking along the ritzy Worth Avenue in a tan, beaded gown just before 5am on March 29, the Palm Beach Daily News reported.
Officers had seen the man several times over the previous 24 hours, noting he had been dressed in a blue denim shirt and black shorts.
When officers confronted him, they noted his evening gown still had price tags attached, according to the arrest report obtained by the outlet.
The 31-year-old was also carrying a long black garment bag.
Police arrested the man and charged him with larceny. He was released from the Palm Beach County Jail on a $1,000 bond, according to jail records.
The man later admitted he stole the designer gown, which was an Aidan Mattox piece with a staggering $575 price tag from Saks Fifth Avenue, per the report.
Aristokids in Palm Beach, the 31-year-old stole the gown from a bin outside this store
The donation bin left outside the store overnight, Prome Towne is a charitable organization that donates prom dresses to students in need
The dress was actually intended to be donated.
The dress thief had snatched it from a donation bin outside a store called Aristokids in the posh locale, the report continued.
A sign hung from the bin, reading: ‘Please place your gently used dresses. All dresses will be donated to Prome Towne.’
Prome Towne is a charitable organization that donates prom dresses to students in need.
The store owners, Jodi and Rick Wently, told the Daily News they were shocked the container was still outside when they arrived for work the next morning.
The staff usually brought it inside for the night, but they seemingly forgot and left it out front.
Jodi told the outlet that she immediately noticed the sparkling gown was missing, as she had been the one who donated it.
Jodi and Rick Wently, the store owners of Aristokids at 309 S County Road
The 31-year-old man was walking in the dazzling gown along the south side of Worth Ave, near The Esplanade
When Palm Beach County officers asked Jodi if she wanted the dress returned, she turned it down.
‘The guy had it on,’ she told the outlet. Police later ‘disposed of’ the designer dress.
The store owners chose not to press charges against the dress thief, and records show that the case against him remains active, the outlet reported.
Daily Mail reached out to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
