Bikini clad suspect goes on crime spree

A bikini wearing bandit remains in the Desoto County Jail. The 24-year-old Horn Lake woman was arrested on Thursday after a short-lived crime spree. In Morgan Haley's mug shot, a disheveled hospital gown covers-up her identifying wardrobe, or lack thereof, her bikini. "I would say are you going swimming," Margie Gleason said. Gleason lives on Donald Drive in Southaven. That's where Police Chief Tom Long says the 24-year-old bikini bandit ran-up to her first victims, a mother and her two children. Neighbours say the kids were inside a car last Thursday afternoon.

"Basically, we received a call about a carjacking that had just occurred," Chief Long said. Chief Long says the bikini-clad woman walked up to the car, she was loud and aggressive. If the two kids were not inside, this story may have had a different ending.

"She felt she would have reacted differently had the children not been there, then she certainly would not have given up her car to somebody without a fight," Chief Long said. But Chief Long says Haley did get into a fight not too far away at "Southaven RV Center." He says she tried to rob the place. "We were sitting in the dealership and out of the blue, this car comes wheeling by and pulls in next to the building and it did raise some eyebrows," Southaven RV Center salesman Fred Blaylack said.



So did her attire and so-called weapon. "Somebody said she had her arm under a towel at one point. Somebody said she had a cell phone and was trying to use it. She just assumed a stance... just pointing, in an attempt to get them to believe she was armed," Chief Long said. The employees didn't buy it. Chief Long says a few of them wrestled with her when she ran behind the counter. They held her until officers arrived. No one was hurt.

"The RV Center was kind enough to donate a shirt. So, she did not have to be transported in her bikini," Chief Long said. Haley faces un-armed carjacking, assault, and disorderly conduct charges. As of Monday afternoon, she was still in the Desoto County Jail.

The owner of Southaven RV Center didn't want to do an interview about Haley, or, release the surveillance video of the scuffle. His employees say he has compassion for the young woman. Officers are still waiting to see if alcohol or drugs played a factor in this incident.