by Adam Shear
WACO - A Waco woman was arrested for robbery Friday night after she attempted to steal $450 in merchandise from a local drug store and then left the store manager scratched and bruised when he tried to stop her from getting away.
"It was about 5 o'clock and I noticed a young lady on one of the aisles and she looked like she was concealing merchandise," said Scott Halvorson, the manager at Drug Emporium off of Bosque Blvd.
That woman was Ashley Walters, 19, and she was stuffing everything from Beanie Babies to jewelry into her bag.
When she tried leaving the store Halvorson attempted to stop her from getting away, but Walters scratched and then bit him when he tried to grab her purse from her. She then fled the store on foot.
"This young lady had close to $450 worth of merchandise and so she knew that she wasn't just going to get a ticket, she was going to jail," said Halvorson. "So I guess she just really really didn't want to go to jail."
Halvorson was able to get the purse away from Walters before she took off and police arrested her a few hours later thanks to customers who spotted where she ran to.
Halvorson hopes that this robbery will show other criminals that stores like his are not afraid to put thieves in jail.
"Hopefully the word will get out to the people like her that we've got cameras all over the store and most stores nowadays do," said Halvorson. "It's just really not the right decision to make."
Walters could have just been charged with theft under $500, but because of the altercation with Halvorson her charges were upgrade to robbery.
