Local woman arrested on felony, misdemeanor charges for alleged department store thefts

Garcia
Garcia

One of three suspects allegedly involved in the theft of several electronic items from Wal-Mart last month was arrested on warrants Tuesday morning.

Julia Louise Garcia, 43, who lists an address of 190 Kelton St., was taken into custody around 9:30 a.m. and charged with a felony count of criminal mischief, punishable by up to six years in prison, and a misdemeanor count of theft of property, punishable by up to one year in jail.

Garcia, who also had a felony warrant for first-degree forgery from the Garland County Sheriff's Department, remained in custody Wednesday with bonds totaling $8,500 and is set to appear Sept. 2 in Garland County District Court.

According to the affidavit, on July 5, employees at Wal-Mart, 4019 Central Ave., discovered a hole in the fence on the north side of the store's garden center, so they reviewed the store's security video and found evidence of a theft involving three suspects.

The video showed that shortly after 4 a.m. a white male and white female entered the store and walked back to the electronics area where they concealed several items in a backpack before proceeding to the garden center.

They walked back and put the backpack full of items next to the fence where a second white male appeared outside the fence. The second suspect cut a hole in the fence, retrieved the backpack and left the area in an unknown direction.

The other male suspect and female suspect were later seen leaving the store and driving away in a blue minivan, all of which was captured on video.

The report notes that damage to the fence was estimated at $2,000 and that the stolen items, including a phone case, security camera, router and alarms, were valued at a total of $410.

The female suspect was later identified as Garcia through review of driver's license photos and a warrant was issued. Hot Springs police also reportedly identified the male suspect, 37, but he had not been arrested as of Wednesday.

The third suspect outside the fence has apparently not been identified.

Local on 08/21/2014

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