Shoplifting suspect caught on camera attacking store employee with pepper spray
GREENWOOD, Ind. (WISH) — New surveillance video shows a woman attacking a store employee with pepper spray during a shoplifting incident. Police are now asking for your help to identify the people involved.
Police said those women got away with a bunch of clothes from J.C. Penney. The store employee caught them stealing, so she confronted them and that’s when one of the women used pepper spray to get away, according to a police report.
Surveillance video from December 20 shows three women walking into the J.C. Penney at the Greenwood Park Mall.
A store employee told police she got off the elevator and saw them putting clothes into a black bag. One of them began walking toward the exit and that’s when the alarm went off.
“As the loss prevention officer approached the first two who had concealed the merchandise, the third one came up and sprayed her in the face with some kind of chemical mace,” said Matt Fillenwarth, who is the assistant chief of police for Greenwood Police.
In the video you can see the 66-year-old store employee coughing. Another man tries to stop the suspects and runs after them, but he too is overcome by the spray. The whole incident lasted for a couple of seconds.
“We don’t know at this time if it’s the same suspect,” said Fillenwarth. “But we had a similar incident at a different store at the mall.”
That incident happened at Von Maur on December 4th. A loss prevention officer was trying to hold back one of two female suspects when she was attacked with the pepper spray.
During the struggle, the suspects dropped more than $1,000 worth of stolen merchandise. They managed to get away with two pairs of designer jeans.
“It’s not something that a lot of your shoplifters are willing to get those extra charges for,” said FIllenwarth.
Police said using pepper spray can be dangerous and in rare cases, deadly.
“There are documented cases, mostly through police departments in the past where people had allergic reactions to them, anaphylactic shock and people have died from being exposed to chemical mace,” Fillenwarth said.
Detectives are still trying to figure out if there’s a connection between the two cases, but if you recognize any of the suspects you’re asked to call Greenwood police at (317) 882- 9191.
“Someone knows who they are and I’m sure these three suspects talked about with their friends what they did,” Fillenwarth said.
Witnesses provided police with the license plate number of the getaway car in both cases.
The store employee and loss prevention officer are okay.
