A San Francisco woman who police say tried to steal handbags and a leather jacket from Nordstrom in Palo Alto and then brawled with two loss-prevention officers outside the department store was arrested Wednesday evening, Feb. 8.
Jennifer Pederson, 49, was spotted stealing several handbags from Nordstrom at Stanford Shopping Center at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, police said. The loss-prevention officer who saw her shoplifting the bags tried to apprehend her outside the store when a pickup truck pulled up in front of Nordstrom, said Lt. Zach Perron, Palo Alto police spokesman. Pederson allegedly hopped into the truck and got away.
An hour-and-a-half later, Pederson and the driver of the truck returned to Nordstrom, Perron said. The same loss-prevention officer who allegedly watched Pederson steal purses was still on duty and he watched her take two more purses and a leather jacket. The man who was with her, 26-year-old Donald Hall of Daly City, walked into the store with her but didn't take anything from the store.
When Pederson walked out of the store, two loss-prevention officers tried to stop her. She resisted and began fighting with them, Perron said. During the wrestling match, she allegedly scratched at and tried to bite the officers. One of them suffered "scratches and scrapes" from the fight, Perron said. Neither the woman nor the other loss-prevention officer were injured during the scuffle.
Palo Alto police then arrived and arrested both Pederson and Hall on a wide array of charges stemming from the shoplifting and their prior records. Officers also found that Hall was in possession of methamphetamines, a pipe and forged checks. When they examined the truck, they found marijuana and the purses that Pederson allegedly stole earlier in the afternoon, Perron said.
Police also learned that Pederson was on probation for theft and that Hall had two arrest warrants, one for evading police and another one for indecent exposure. Both were booked in the Santa Clara County Main Jail in San Jose.
Hall was charged with possession of fraudulent checks, possession of methamphetamines and drug paraphernalia, being under the influence of narcotics.
Pederson was charged with robbery, burglary, possession of stolen properties (all felonies), as well as possession of marijuana, possession of burglary tools and felony conspiracy.
Comments
Adobe-Meadow
on Feb 12, 2012 at 4:25 pm
on Feb 12, 2012 at 4:25 pm
Outstanding arrest warrant for indecent exposure?
Palo Alto High School
on Feb 12, 2012 at 4:39 pm
on Feb 12, 2012 at 4:39 pm
Good thing they were dumb enough to return to the store! Made it easier for the security guards!
University South
on Feb 12, 2012 at 7:27 pm
on Feb 12, 2012 at 7:27 pm
Okay, I have to know...did the person who wrote this headline get a high-five after working the word "bag" into it? :)
Woodside
on Feb 12, 2012 at 9:36 pm
on Feb 12, 2012 at 9:36 pm
This is the same thing that happened @ the Walnut Creek Nordstrom about two months ago, same dept same schtick.
another community
on Feb 13, 2012 at 1:40 am
on Feb 13, 2012 at 1:40 am
after escaping from security officers, what kind of idiot shoplifter returns to the scene of the crime an hour and a half later?
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Feb 13, 2012 at 7:38 am
on Feb 13, 2012 at 7:38 am
"... idiot shoplifter..."
Isn't that an oxymoron?
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Feb 13, 2012 at 8:52 am
on Feb 13, 2012 at 8:52 am
"possession of methamphetamines"
This explains a LOT of things regarding the stupidity of their actions. I hate this drug and the people who distribute it. The sad thing is that these two will never really have the chance to "go straight", because they will never be free of this stuff. It's too addictive, too destructive, too evil.
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Feb 13, 2012 at 8:54 am
on Feb 13, 2012 at 8:54 am
"Isn't that an oxymoron?"
No, I think you mean "duplication of terms." Why don't we ask Linsey Logan about this?
Palo Verde
on Feb 13, 2012 at 9:57 am
on Feb 13, 2012 at 9:57 am
Apocryphal words of Lindsay Lohan, "I don't care what they say about me as long as they spell my name right."
Professorville
on Feb 13, 2012 at 10:42 am
on Feb 13, 2012 at 10:42 am
@musical: where's the "like" button when you need it? :)
Midtown
on Feb 13, 2012 at 2:13 pm
on Feb 13, 2012 at 2:13 pm
Career criminals that need a new career. They are obviously too stupid even for this pitiful occupation.
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Feb 13, 2012 at 5:10 pm
on Feb 13, 2012 at 5:10 pm
Gethin, Notice that the article mentions they had methamphetamines on them. One might assume that they used them, right? Isn't that stuff like a stupid pill? Since that stuff is 100% addictive in first-time use, they were addicts. The stuff has a VERY strong pull, but at the same time it makes you dangerous and irrational. It is not really easy to hold a job while addicted to that stuff, but you HAVE to get more as a desperate matter, and soon. Not many options left after you spent all your money, sold or traded your possessions, and you have no income, gotta steal something.
Granted that trying that stuff in the first place is a pretty stupid thing to do, but the temptation to "try anything once" is there. The trouble is that once is far too much when it comes to methamphetamines. Trying it is life-altering, and in a VERY bad way. But these people don't realize that when they try it.