Walmart shoplifting suspect has ‘panic attack’ when cops find clothes in purse

A 43-year-old woman was caught cramming clothes in her purse at a west Macon Walmart on June 20. According to a Bibb County sheriff’s report, the woman was at the Harrison Road store when a security man there spotted her leaving without paying for items that included pants and four polo shirts. The alleged theft was recorded by surveillance cameras. When a sheriff’s deputy got there, the woman was “trying to argue that she had not meant to steal the clothing, but rather she forgot she put (the clothes) in her purse,” an incident report noted. “After that argument failed, she tried to say that what we were seeing on the video was not what happened.” When the woman realized the deputy wasn’t buying her story, “she then began to shake and claim she could not breathe,” the report added. “She then fell on the floor and told us she was having a panic attack. (She) continued to shake and cry and claim that she was going to throw up … (and) even dry-heaved into a trash can for at least 10 minutes.” An ambulance arrived. Medics checked her vital signs and said “she seemed to be medically fine,” the report said. She was taken to a hospital but a theft warrant was issued for her arrest.

This story was originally published June 29, 2017 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Walmart shoplifting suspect has ‘panic attack’ when cops find clothes in purse."