Violent shoplifting incident caught on camera

A frightening few moments were caught on camera at a local Walmart, authorities say.  Surveillance video shows a woman in purple pulling a folded knife out her pants and waving it around.  Orlando Police say the suspect and her friend were shoplifting and pulled the knife when security confronted them as they tried to leave.  

“About an hour before that, the internal security folks at Walmart had seen two women who were going through the store and taking things and putting them in their purses,” said Michelle Guido, spokesperson for Orlando Police Department.

According to the incident report, one security officer kept an eye on the surveillance cameras while another secretly followed the two suspected shoplifters.  “They followed them throughout the store,” said Guido. 

Walmart’s security strategized so the suspects would have to go out a certain door.  The suspects casually walk up to the exit.   The video shows the second security confronts the women, the one wearing purple pulls the knife and waves the sharp end of the weapon at security, keeping them way from her and the other suspect.  Then the two women sprinted out of the store.  Investigators say they ran across the parking lot and into the Sterling Crest Apartments.

OPD says the pair stolen about $100 worth of merchandise and took the crime to a whole other level when the weapon came out.  “This was a crime that began as a shoplifting crime, which that’s a serious crime.  But, it’s not as serious a crime as armed robbery with a deadly weapon which is what these folks are now facing because they made a bad decision on their way out the door,” said Guido.

If you recognize either of the women in the surveillance video you’re asked to call Orlando or Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.