Williams
A shoplifting report escalated to robbery after a woman threatened a Greenwood store’s employees with a hammer.
Amber Nichole Williams, 18, of Indianapolis, was arrested on a felony charge of robbery and a misdemeanor charge of a minor possessing an alcoholic beverage. Formal charges are pending with the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office.
Greenwood police were called around 8:48 p.m. Wednesday for a shoplifting report at Meijer, 150 Marlin Drive. Officers were initially told that a woman wearing a red cap had concealed bottles of alcohol. There was also another woman with her who was wearing a black cap, though this woman has not been charged with a crime, according to a Greenwood Police Department report.
As officers arrived on scene, they were told the woman with the red cap — later identified as Williams — had threatened employees with a hammer. Both women had also fled the store and were running in the parking lot, according to the report.
An officer saw Williams running in the parking lot, and ordered her to put her hands up at gunpoint. Guns were drawn due to reports of the woman being armed with a hammer, the report shows.
Police say Williams complied with the officer’s orders and was detained. The woman in the black cap was also detained.
Officers did not initially find the hammer in Williams’ possession, but later found it in the parking lot along the path she ran, according to the report.
A Meijer loss prevention employee told officers only Williams stole from the store. They watched Williams via surveillance cameras while she was in a grocery aisle, and when she entered the liquor department, she reportedly took two large bottles of Vodka, the report shows.
The employee told police they went to watch Williams in person, and saw her grab more alcohol before putting the bottles in a large purse. The woman in the black cap was also with Williams, and the woman later went up to the front of the store to speak to employees in a possible effort to distract them as Williams tried to leave.
Additional footage showed the woman in the black cap speaking with a store manager as Williams reportedly tried to exit the store with the alcohol. However, Meijer’s security system locked the tires of the shopping cart, preventing Williams from leaving, the report says.
A loss prevention employee stood in front of the cart, and Williams was then seen pulling out a hammer and moving toward the employee. Williams allegedly told the employee to back up, and the employee told their coworkers to back away due to fears that Williams would hit them with the hammer, the report says.
Both Williams and the woman with the black cap then left the store as employees asked them to come back inside, according to the report.
Meijer employees later determined that $67.12 worth of items were stolen, including multiple bottles of alcohol. Police returned the items to the store, according to the report.
The woman in the black cap wasn’t arrested, but Williams was taken to the Johnson County jail, where she remains on $17,000 bond.
