ALTOONA, Pa (WJAC) — Police say two Maryland women have been charged for their involvement in a string of retail thefts from Ulta Beauty stores in Pennsylvania and surrounding states, according to a press release.
Logan Township police say on Feb. 20, officers were dispatched to the Ulta store in Altoona for a reported retail theft in which two black females threatened the employees with mace while they stole items from the store.
Upon further investigation, police identified the female suspects as 24-year-old Teyona Griffith and 30-year-old Keiara Stokes, both from Baltimore, Maryland.
Witnesses told police that the two women entered the store carrying "Marshalls" shopping bags and that they loaded up the bags with approximately 190 bottles of men's cologne and women's perfume, valued at over $18,000.
Police say that the store's assistant manager attempted to stop the women by grabbing one of the bags, at which time one of the suspects told the manager to "let go of the bag or I'll mace you."
Witnesses told police that the women then fled the store, in a white, older model Dodge Durango, towards Interstate 99.
Police say on Feb. 22, the two suspects were arrested in Martinsburg, West Virginia for stealing from another Ulta Beauty store.
Investigators say these incidents were part of a larger string of retail thefts from the beauty chain that had occurred in several area states in recent months.
The release notes that Sheriff's Deputies in Berkeley County, West Virginia recovered over $8,300 worth of stolen merchandise from the suspects' vehicle.
Both women are being held in Maryland, pending extradition to West Virginia for being involved in a police pursuit.
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