A 30-year-old woman from Ohio committed a 2-day crime spree in July 2017. The woman, who was also a stay at home mom, claimed that she had everything she ever wanted except for the excitement.
A Life Of Crime
Melissa Bergman, who served in the Army, lived in a home worth $475,000 in Mason County when she began committing a series of thefts. Melissa claimed that she felt her life was going nowhere and had nothing in her life to look forward to.
Melissa continued that she also attempted to commit suicide, which landed her in the hospital during the summer of 2017. After her release from the hospital, Melissa discovered a package in front of her room that mistakenly mailed to her home. Melissa brought the package to the right address but also spotted other packages that were seemingly disregarded at the doorstep.
Melissa took the packages and put them in her car and stated she felt a certain thrill from opening the packages that weren't hers.
"It's not like I was selling it, not like I needed it. Just the excitement of looking to see what was in that box and knowing, ya' know what, 'Since he didn't want this item, this item can be donated to someone that actually really needs it,' and that was the thought that went through my head," Melissa stated.
The Unexpected Thrill
Melissa states that it began to get worse as the urge to steal became harder for her to control. The Ohio native drover her mini-van to 12 different homes and stole more packages off of their porches. Melissa was charged and found guilty on 12 misdemeanor theft charges in June 2018. Melissa will have to serve 30 days in jail for the crime.
Melissa claimed that she consulted a psychologist, who suggested that post-traumatic stress disorder from her time spent in Afghanistan might have been the reason for her crime spree. She continued that the psychologist said that she missed the excitement she felt during her time overseas and by committing this crime, she began to feel it again.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, PTSD is a disorder a person develops when they have experienced a shocking or scary event. The National Center for PTSD states that 7 or 8 out of every 100 people will develop PTSD at some point in their life. Women are more likely to develop the disorder than men.
