A 57-year-old woman faces a charge of felony larceny after she allegedly stole a medical walker from an elderly man who was shopping inside Walmart, a Carson City sheriff’s deputy said.
Veronica Louise Frasca of Sparks was taken into custody at 3:22 p.m. from the store located in the 3200 block of Market Street in Carson City. Her bail was set at $10,000 that she later posted.
According to the arrest report, deputies were called to the store and met with the 74-year-old victim who said someone had taken his medical walker that he needs to assist him with walking.
The deputy spoke with the store’s loss prevention that provided video and a still photograph of Frasca, who was seen leaving the store with the walker, placing it in a pickup and then driving away from the location. The woman then returned to Walmart for a nail salon appointment, according to the arrest report.
The deputy was advised that loss prevention had approached the woman and asked her to return the walker to the elderly victim. Walmart staff advised the woman then became verbally uncooperative, the report states.
When the deputy arrived the woman was in the nail salon. He approached her and identified himself as a sheriff’s deputy. The officer asked the suspect if she would speak to him. The woman agreed and the officer asked if she knew anything about a missing walker.
The woman replied she had used it to walk out to the parking lot. The deputy asked the woman if she knew where the walker was at. The woman said “no, I left it in the parking lot,” the arrest report states.
The officer asked the woman to be honest and tell him where the walker was. The woman said she had no idea where it was. A man who was sitting next to the woman inside the nail salon said that he gave the woman a ride to the store in his truck. He said that the deputy could look in his truck for the walker and he handed him the keys.
The deputy advised the woman that he was detaining her while he checked the pickup for the walker. The officer asked the woman to stand up from the pedicure chair. As soon as the woman stood up she said: “It’s in the truck. I didn’t mean to steal it,” the arrest report states.
The officer escorted the woman out of the store and located the vehicle in the parking lot that belonged to the man. The walker was in the truck. The officer returned the walker to the victim and asked him how the woman was able to get the walker away from him.
The elderly victim stated he entered the store using his walker, and that he transitioned from his walker to a store supplied motorized scooter so he could conduct his shopping.
He said he left the walker in the spot designated for the motorized scooter. When he completed his shopping he returned and noticed the walker was gone. He said he reported the incident to store managers and loss prevention.
The officer then spoke with loss prevention and watched a video of the incident. On the video the victim is seen entering the store and gets on the motorized scooter. Within seconds, the woman is seen taking the walker and walking toward the exit. She appears to look back over her shoulder in the direction of the man as she rapidly exits the store, the arrest report states.
Security footage follows the woman outside the store and she walks next to the pickup. Moments later the truck pulls out of the parking stall and exits the parking lot. The walker is no longer seen on the security footage in the parking lot after the truck leaves, the arrest report states.
After viewing security footage, the officer responded back to his patrol vehicle and advised Frasca that she was under arrest. She faces a charge of larceny from a person under $3,500, a felony.
In other arrests:
— A 32-year-old Carson City man was arrested Saturday, 11:10 p.m. in the area of East Musser and Plaza streets on misdemeanor suspicion of domestic battery. According to the arrest report, the man allegedly pushed his girlfriend in an aggressive manner that was witnessed by three people. Bail: $3,137.
— A 23-year-old Carson City man was arrested Sunday, 3:26 a.m. in the area of North Carson and Rice streets on a misdemeanor warrant, violation of a suspended sentence, issued June 22 out of Carson City Justice Court. Bail: $1,000.
All information for the crime log (unless otherwise noted) comes from the arrest reports supplied by the Carson City Sheriff’s Office, and is considered by law to be public information. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The policy of Carson Now is to name anyone who is arrested for a felony offense.
