She told police she broke into the laundromat because she wanted to get clean

A Florida woman sits in jail after stealing from a coin laundry months after the business fired her for stealing, cops say.

Stefanie Belanger, 36, sits in Indian River County Sheriff's Office jail on $12,500 bond from a charge of felony burglary and grand theft. The arrest report says of the $379.63 stolen from Vero Beach's Sunshine Laundry Service location on Sixth Avenue on Wednesday night, $95 of it was found in Belanger's bra.

Belanger was the lead suspect from the moment a current Sunshine employee arrived Thursday morning before the 7 a.m. opening to find a broken glass door. When Vero Beach cops asked if anyone had been fired from the business recently, the employee named Belanger, said it happened "a few months ago" and the cause was stealing from Sunshine.

Upon showing the employee surveillance video of the robbery, she identified Belanger. Police found the cash box at Belanger's apartment, but only $16.13 remained. She told cops she didn't know what happened to the rest of the money.

Maybe she forgot about her bra bank, in which a post-arrest search found three $20 bills, two $5 bills, one $10 bill and 15 $1 bills.

The arresting officer wrote, "I asked her why she did it and she replied she was trying to get money to go to rehab because she needs help."

This story was originally published May 14, 2018 at 9:08 AM with the headline "She told police she broke into the laundromat because she wanted to get clean."