LAKELAND, Fla. — Two local women are behind bars after a tag-team shoplifting attempt at a Family Dollar store went south, ending in felony charges for both.
The incident unfolded around 1:30 p.m. on May 20th at the Family Dollar location in Lakeland. According to store employees, 70-year-old Sandra Kay Edwards and 51-year-old Adrienne Nichole Ghent entered the business and immediately separated. A store representative stated that one of the women deliberately created a distraction while the other began stuffing a personal bag with store merchandise.
The store clerk noticed the activity and explicitly told the women she was calling the police. The duo immediately fled the store with over $90 worth of stolen goods, including beer, coffee creamer, and an assortment of men’s and women’s clothing.
As they made their escape, a second store employee managed to snap a photograph of the license plate on their getaway vehicle, a blue Chevy Equinox. Polk County Sheriff’s deputies used the vehicle information to quickly identify both Edwards and Ghent.
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Records show both women have extensive criminal histories. Edwards was already on felony probation for theft at the time of the incident and had checked in with her probation officer just one day prior to the Family Dollar robbery. Her record dates back to 1972 and includes prior convictions for robbery, assault, and theft, resulting in past prison time. Ghent’s criminal record dates back to 1989 and includes various theft charges, battery, resisting law enforcement, and previous prison sentences.
Law enforcement located both suspects the following day, May 21st, at a residence on Westgate Avenue in Lakeland, where they were placed under arrest.
Both Edwards and Ghent face charges of third-degree felony petit theft. Edwards faces an additional charge for violation of probation.
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