Accused neighbourhood plant thief dubbed the ‘Cooby racoon’

A woman accused of pinching flowers from the front yards of Perth residents before reselling them outside a local Woolworths has left residents double-checking their garden beds for missing plants.

Coolbellup residents have taken to social media to show their disarray for an alleged flower pincher after she was filmed refusing to leave a driveway of a resident as she took flowers from his garden.

“I’ll move when I f****ing want,” the woman can be heard saying as concerned resident Daemin Cook tried to ask the woman to move her car as she loaded it with his plants.

After selecting a prime target, the woman is alleged by residents to have been stealing flowers for “months” as they name her the “Cooby racoon”.

One resident told PerthNow she “saw the lady outside Woolworths” selling the flowers while another was upset the police “won’t do anything”.

Images online show mounds of greenery — now claimed by the ‘Cooby raccoon’ — stacked outside the entrance of the shop.

A police spokesperson said Fremantle police were not aware of a recent spate of greenery theft.

While the community keeps a watchful eye on their gardens, the ‘Cooby raccoon’ — also known as Kelly Harrison — fronted the spotlight today speaking with 7NEWS as she pushed around a trolley filled with flowers and foliage.

“I’ve been doing my business, a little flower business, so I just wanted to test the market,” she said.

“I’ve got permission from any house that I’ve taken flowers from.”

While online footage shows members of the public clearly upset with Harrison’s actions, she said the community uproar is due to people not being open-minded about her business venture.

“Life is hard at the moment and I think when people try and do things out of the box people shouldn’t be so cruel,” she said.

The alleged flower bandit comes as brazen thieves stole hundreds of rare orchids from Kings Park in February.

The Director of the WA Botanic Garden Sue McDougal said you can’t put a price on the “extremely rare” plants, adding they are “invaluable” and won’t survive in a normal environment.

The careless act happened at the end of January when the thief or thieves stole 400 king spider and 500 collie spider orchids which were on display in the conservation garden as part of a research project.