(Stillwater, Okla.) – A Cushing woman accused of stealing a purse from a shopping cart at the Walmart in Cushing has been charged with grand larceny, which is a felony punishable by as much as a five-year prison term and a $5,000 fine, court records show.
An arrest warrant was issued Monday for Tara Junea Fowler, 27, who was not in the Payne County Jail today, a sheriff’s spokesman said.
Cushing Police Officer Alex Gegen was sent at 3:17 p.m. on July 25 to the Cushing Walmart on Main Street regarding a stolen purse, his affidavit said.
In a video provided by Walmart, the Cushing officer saw “a female with a red tank top and black pants walk around the aisles while observing the purse,” in the victim’s cart, his affidavit alleged.
“The suspect walked around some other kiosk before returning to the shopping cart. The suspect then grabbed the purse out of the shopping cart while (the victim) was not looking and then went down another aisle,” the affidavit alleged.
In another video, the suspect could be seen going to a register and buying a few items with money out of the stolen purse, the affidavit alleged.
“I observed the suspect then place (the victim’s) purse into her own purse to conceal it,” and leave the building, the Cushing officer alleged in his affidavit.
“The suspect was a female with dark hair, red tank top, black pants and tattoos on her left forearm. While observing the video, I knew the suspect to be Tara Junea Fowler from previous encounters as a police officer,” Gegen alleged in his affidavit for an arrest warrant.
The victim said that her purse had her driver’s license, debit card, a red phone, key fob to her car, house keys, $100 in cash and other items, the affidavit said.
She said she had already called the bank on her husband’s phone to have the debit card shut off for any further use, the affidavit said.
Another woman found the purse at Memorial Park and turned it into the Cushing Police Department, the affidavit said.
The purse, which still had the victim’s cell phone, car key fob and other items, was identified by the victim, who said her driver’s license and debit card were still missing, the affidavit said.
When the Cushing officer spoke to the suspect in the 300 block of N. Jones, “Fowler stated ‘I took the purse.’ I asked her why she took the purse, in which she stated ‘I needed food and I had no money,’ the affidavit alleged.
“I asked her where the purse was and she told me she put it in a trash can by the pool at Memorial Park. I informed her that the purse was found, but there were still items missing. She stated all she took from the purse was the money and left everything else in the purse,” the Cushing officer alleged in his affidavit.
“I informed Fowler that I would go look in the trash cans to see if the items were still there. After speaking to Fowler, I went to Memorial Park. I searched multiple trash cans, but did not find any other items,” belonging to the victim, who wanted a larceny charge filed against Fowler, the Cushing officer alleged in his affidavit.
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