Woman flees after shoplifting at Dickson City Walmart

A Nicholson woman fled police on Nov 2, after shoplifting from the Dickson City Walmart.

Linda Carpenter, 64, is charged with aggravated assault, retail theft, fleeing police, criminal trespass and possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to the criminal complaint, at about 10 p.m. Dickson City police officers responded to Walmart on a report of shoplifting.

On their way to the store, dispatchers informed officers that a woman, later identified as Carpenter, left the store and ran toward her vehicle. She then got into a black Jeep and left the lot.

Officers spotted the vehicle on Commerce Boulevard and activated their lights and sirens.

Carpenter failed to stop when approached by police and continued to flee toward the Red Robin entrance. Carpenter continued toward Holiday Inn, driving in the middle of the roadway.

Police noted other vehicles in the area had to reverse their vehicles to get out of Carpenter’s way.

Officer Derek Cadwalder pulled up next to Carpenter and she swerved toward him, hitting the police vehicle. When Cadwalder pulled in front of Carpenter, she hit the back of his  patrol vehicle.

Once she stopped, officers pulled Carpenter out of the vehicle and arrested her.

Officers noted they could see Walmart bags and merchandise from outside the vehicle.

Carpenter would not provide officers with her name or permission to search her Jeep.

She was taken back to the Dickson City Walmart, where asset protection staff identified her.

Hunter Lane, an asset protection employee, said Carpenter made her way through the store removing UPC stickers with barcodes from multiple items and placing them on more expensive merchandise.

When  asset protection personnel approached Carpenter after she checked out, she refused to accompany them to the office and left.

On Nov. 3, officers searched the vehicle and found multiple items from Walmart, a baggie containing meth residue and drug paraphernalia. Officers estimated that the total of items Carpenter stole from the Dickson City Walmart to be $253.

They learned that on May 13, 2024, she was notified she was prohibited from entering any Walmart indefinitely.

She remains at Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $40,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Nov. 25 before District Judge Joanne Corbett.