One woman is charged and police are looking for another after a retail theft turned violent Thursday afternoon.
According to police, officers were dispatched to the Old Navy in The Court at Oxford Valley shopping center around 2 p.m. for a disturbance. When the first officer arrived, he discovered the incident had actually been an altercation between a security guard and a woman.
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The incident reportedly started when two women entered the store and acted funny by immediately looking around for surveillance cameras. A loss prevention officer then began following the two around the store. Police said the loss prevention officer watched one woman – later identified as Tyasia Hayden, 20, of Trenton – put stolen merchandise in her purse and that of the other woman.
As the two women began to walk out of the store, the loss prevention officer tried to detain the duo for retail theft. He grabbed onto the purse of the second woman and she let go and ran to her car. She then drove away from the area and the loss prevention officer was able to grab Hayden, who then turned and struck him twice in the face with a closed fist, police said.
The loss prevention officer was able to restrain the 20-year-old and recover the two purses, both containing a combined $187.46 in merchandise, according to police.
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Hayden was charged with simple assault, retail theft, criminal conspiracy, possession of an instrument of crime, receiving stolen property, conspiracy and two counts of robbery. She was arraigned by District Judge Jan Vislosky and she was released on $50,000 unsecured bail.
The other woman has been identified by police but is not yet in custody.
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Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
