Three people were arrested Saturday on multiple charges after a shoplifting attempt at an Anchorage Walmart reportedly turned into a robbery, police said in a statement Monday.
Anchorage police responded to a call at the Walmart on A Street near Benson Boulevard around 11 a.m. Saturday. The store’s loss prevention told police a woman had pointed a handgun at three employees after they confronted her about merchandise hidden in her purse. She left the store in a white SUV driven by someone else.
Officers located the SUV a few blocks away in the parking lot of the Chuck E. Cheese’s on Northern Lights Boulevard. The vehicle was unoccupied except for a puppy, which was later placed in the care of Animal Control. A witness told officers the occupants had gone into the Chuck E. Cheese’s restrooms.
Police confronted 21-year-old Chardonnay P.K. Carlton after she stepped out of the restroom downstairs and determined she was not the suspect who pointed the gun at Walmart employees. She was arrested on a theft charge after officers discovered that the EBT card she was carrying was not hers, police said.
Tacie P. Chaison, 38, who was found in the upstairs bathroom, matched the description of the suspect in the Walmart robbery, police said. She was arrested on an outstanding warrant and is now facing new charges of robbery, three counts of assault, theft and misconduct involving a weapon.
Police also arrested Trevon D. Chaison, 25, who had been standing outside the upstairs men’s restroom, on a previous felony probation warrant. He matched the description of the SUV getaway driver, police said, and he was charged with hindering prosecution.
When officers searched the restrooms, they found a handgun inside a sanitary napkin disposal bin, a syringe containing heroin, tags that had been removed from the stolen Walmart merchandise and the clothes the suspects had previously been wearing, police said.
Police said in the statement that it appeared “drug use was a factor for all three suspects." None of the suspects is facing drug-related charges.