OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — An Oklahoma woman says she unknowingly purchased wigs worth thousands of dollars from a man police believe stole them from Disney on Ice performers.
Oklahoma City Police shared surveillance video on social media that the department says was taken September 7 of a man stuffing the stolen wigs into a backpack and taking off. Court documents say tips helped authorities identify the suspect as Caleb Albers; and that the wigs are valued at $20,000.
After receiving the tip, police determined Albers had been arrested before and were able to track down an old address. An officer said the people living at that address told them that Albers was no longer staying there, but while they were talking, a woman walked up wearing a very noticeable blonde wig.
Detectives asked the woman about the wig and she told them she bought it from Albers. The witness also told police she knew where another woman lived who had purchased multiple wigs from Albers as well.
NewsNation local affiliate KFOR spoke with Marjorie Pfenning Thursday who identified herself as the other person who bought the wigs. Pfenning said Albers came up to her outside of her home, begging for her to buy them.
“Told me he was hungry and I told him I didn’t have much money on me,” said Pfenning.
Pfenning said Albers eventually convinced her to buy the wigs for $10.
“He didn’t tell me anything about where the wigs came from,” said Pfenning.
KFOR employees asked Pfenning if anything about the wigs stood out or raised red flags at the time. Pfenning said she wasn’t able to try them on before officers came to her door. She says they appeared to be too “fantasy” and “fairy tale” for her taste; and that she had set them aside.
“I didn’t know there was a lot of money invested in the wigs, and I surely didn’t know that it was from Disney on Ice. I would have returned the wigs immediately,” said Pfenning.
Pfenning says when she went to give the wigs to officers she did however note the wording on one of them that indicated it may be related to a Disney character.
“I noticed that the Tinkerbell wig had Tink underneath, underneath the underside of it.”
Pfenning says she’s thankful she wasn’t arrested and warns other people to think twice before buying random items to help someone out.
“I would say, definitely check, maybe check where they came from,” said Pfenning. “Or maybe even just pass them by.”
Albers is facing a grand larceny complaint, and as of Thursday, was not currently in custody.
KFOR reached out to Jones PR, who representing the live show company that is putting on Disney on Ice, for comment and received the following statement below.
The show will be performed in its entirety as scheduled. Thank you to the OKC police for their assistance with this matter
Taylor Ketchum, Jones PR (on behalf of Feld Entertainment)
