KABC/ABC News

An elderly woman who appeared to be visiting many doctors over the past six months was charged this week for robbing them instead.

Doris Ann Gamble, 82, was arrested in El Segundo, Calif., Aug. 30 and charged this week with stealing about $17,000 from various doctor's offices between March and August, according to Torrance, Calif., police.

Gamble allegedly conned the medical staffs by hiding out in the offices until they closed for the night, and then stealing from the cash drawers.

According to Sgt. Robert Watt of the Torrance police department, Gamble allegedly had a pattern of stealing from medical offices that had yielded a prior conviction in 2010. She was released earlier this year, and police noticed an uptick in commercial burglaries.

Torrance detectives noticed a "distinctive elderly female with spiky gray hair in the lobby," of one burglarized office when reviewing surveillance video, and tracked Gamble down to a local motel, Watt said. Gamble had been living in motels recently, he noted.

Police charged Gamble with seven counts of second-degree commercial burglary and one count of attempted commercial burglary.

Gamble was outspoken in her first court appearance on the charges Tuesday, asking the judge why cameras showed up to tape her appearance, according to ABC News station KABC.

"Why do they film that, I'm not newsworthy. I am an 82-year-old lady who does burglary, why is that newsworthy," she said to the judge. As she left court, she made a request for donations so she could buy snacks while she's behind bars, according to the report.

Gamble has a history of burglary, including a 21-page rap sheet and a stint last year in state jail. Thompson's bail was set at $260,000. If convicted, she faces more than five years in county jail.