Police are warning people across Charlotte to be on the lookout for a man who's been charged with 45 different crimes over nearly 25 years, but he is out on bond again... Donald Louis Patton has an arrest record dating back to the 1970's, mostly for crimes that victimized people where they work, which is why people who work in businesses around uptown are especially on alert.Officer Shawn Franklin with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said Patton most often gets accused of swiping wallets or purses from office buildings while no one is looking. "Believe it or not, this is (some criminals) job, so they know what they're looking for when they walk in," he said.
Patton's latest arrest came last week when police say he stole a woman's purse from her desk at an office in South End. Two months ago police arrested him after they say he walked into a cosmetology school on Kings Drive and stole students' wallets.Despite Patton's lengthy criminal history, he is not considered a habitual felon because he has not been convicted of a felony three consecutive times. Patton has mostly been charged with misdemeanors. After someone has been convicted of three felonies back-to-back, a jury can decide to label them a habitual felon. This means the next time they are convicted of a felony- up to six additional years can be added to their sentence. - WSOC-TV