Apparently sick of the workaday grind, a pair of 30-something roommates who are deeply in debt decided to live like the 1% for a spell. After forging checks from a law firm where one of the women worked as a paralegal, the twosome tore off on a private jet with friends to go shopping in New York City. They also rented an 11,000-square-foot mansion so they could “live like kings during the holidays.”
There are shopping sprees that are memorable. There are shopping sprees that are soon regretted. And then, there’s the madcap outlaw shopping spree of Alexa and Robin, who might be considered a “Thelma & Louise” for the Occupy era.
The Los Angeles Times reports that two girlfriends from Garden Grove, Calif.—33-year-old school teacher Robin Antonella Pabello and 34-year-old paralegal Alexa Johzen Polar—just returned from one honey of an epic shopping trip.
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The two, who are “deep in debt and wanted to enjoy life without any cares for a while,” according to the police, allegedly forged a $285,000 check from the law firm where Polar works. They used the money to charter a jet to New York City, where they rented five hotel rooms overlooking Times Square and shopped ’til they dropped at Tiffany’s, among other stores.
Polar and Pabello also put a $233,000 deposit on an 11,000-square-foot mansion in California, and planned on living there through the holidays—or at least until they got busted.
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Alas, Christmas morning in the mansion was not to be. After police got wind of the forged checks, the Manhattan shopping trip was cut short, and the friends wound up forced to fly back to California (in coach). They now face charges of forgery and grand theft, and up to six years in prison.
Brad Tuttle is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @bradrtuttle. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.
