Don't mess with another person's coupons in Denton.
Denton police arrested 37-year-old Sybil Hudson on Monday, charging her with a Class A misdemeanor in connection with the theft of coupons from a newspaper stand.
If found guilty, she could face a $4,000 fine and up to a year in jail.
But Hudson denies that she did anything wrong.
"Even though I'm sitting here and I'm going to pay a fortune for this -- my kids are going to pay a fortune for this -- it's going to keep happening because the person that is still doing it is still there," she said in an interview in the Denton County jail.
Detectives said she was caught stealing coupons from a coin-operated newspaper stand at a Whataburger in Denton. Police said witnesses saw her taking coupon packets out of the papers.
"I do... the coupon thing, don't get me wrong," Hudson said. "I do the extreme couponing like everybody else; it saves millions of bucks. But I always get my papers at Walmart."
While the idea of stealing coupons might seem like petty theft to some, it's stealing to newspaper distributors that can't sell the newspapers without the coupon inserts.
Several distributors have reported a spike in coupon thefts in the last few months in and around Denton and Collin counties.
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"Whether it's a large corporation or a small, individual person, we're still going to take the case serious," Denton police Officer Ryan Grelle said. "A lot of people are fascinated by it -- 'Hey, I can save a ton of money.' You can, but you can also spend a ton of money if you get caught, with court fees and lawyer fees and restitution."
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