The Payson Roundup / Police end one-day shoplifting spree with arrests

Archive for Tuesday, March 2, 2010

March 2, 2010

Police say a one-day shopping spree for four Payson residents ended in handcuffs when officers apprehended the group reportedly lifting items at Stage.

Amanda Jean Howard, 24, Shari Lynna Gimlen, 18, Veronica Nicole Cotto, 27, and Tobias Todd Zertuche, 40, were all arrested on charges of shoplifting Feb. 7.

Police first got word that the group was possibly shoplifting when Ace Hardware employees called 911 to report that the women had taken several tools and left with Zertuche driving.

An officer began looking for the car and spotted it in the Stage parking lot.

The officer went into the store and arrested the women and Zertuche, Engler said.

The women reportedly took between $130 and $140 worth of clothing from Stage and less than $50 worth of tools from Ace Hardware.

In between Ace and Stage, the group also hit Beall’s Outlet where they took less than $50 worth of clothing, Engler said.