JONESBORO, Ark. – One of the biggest shoplifting arrests of the year just happened at the mall in Jonesboro.
It was just after 10 p.m. Tuesday night when Jonesboro Police Department was dispatched to J.C. Penney at The Mall at Turtle Creek over a shoplifting call. It wouldn’t be like many shoplifting calls, though, as this call involved several suspects and an SUV packed full of merchandise.
Officer Victoria Evans arrived and made contact with a black 2007 Cadillac Escalade, owned by Brenda Lee Haskins, 54, of Jonesboro. Also inside were Joshlin M. Ames, 27, Cassandra Marie Vann, 32, and Veta Lee Jones, 28, all of Jonesboro, too. The officer also noticed a full load of J.C. Penney mesh shopping bags in the back, full of clothing, a comforter set, and more. There were dozens of other items, too.
Officer Nathan Coleman arrived to assist and reviewed security camera footage, later reporting what he saw.
“I accessed the video system and at around 2150 hours, it is clear that the female later identified as Joshlin Ames walks out first with handfuls of black netting shopping bags that are not allowed to leave the store,” Coleman said. “The bags appear to be very full. She is followed by Veta Jones who is also carrying multiple black netting bags full of merchandise. Brenda Haskins the pushes a J.C. Penney shopping cart out that appears to have merchandise in it. These are not supposed to be taken outside of the store either.”
Vann was also carrying a black netted bag with merchandise out of the store, Coleman reported.
235 articles of clothing valued at $8,111.66 were recovered from the vehicle. Several hundred dollars in merchandise, possibly taken from other stores, was also recovered.
Haskins, Jones, Ames and Vann were arrested for felony shoplifting, greater than $5,000. They were taken to Craighead County Detention Center
During the incident, Haskins reportedly had her 10-year-old granddaughter with her.
The four women were arrested for felony charges of theft of property. As of 2:40 p.m. Wednesday, they were still in CCDC.
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