A Turlock resident was among three women arrested by the Vacaville Police Department for a theft of thousands of dollars in merchandise from an outlet mall.
The theft has some similarities to a theft that happened at the Ulta store in Turlock in February and investigators are looking to see if there is a connection.
The theft in Vacaville happened on Monday afternoon and was reported by two employees who saw the three women leaving the store with a large amount of unpaid merchandise. The Vacaville Police Department reported that when the employees tried to stop the suspects from leaving, the suspects “menacingly told the employees to get out of their way and quickly fled in a nearby car.”
The outlet employees were able to give police dispatchers a description of the vehicle the suspects left in, as well as the license plate number and the direction of travel.
A VPD officer caught up with the vehicle at a freeway onramp. The driver of the car, Makayla Lockett, 24, of Turlock, stopped the vehicle, but then sped away as the officer was speaking with her at the window.
A pursuit ensued on Interstate 505 and came to a quick end when Lockett crashed into another vehicle while trying to get off the interstate.
“The doors flung open and Ms. Lockett and her two passengers immediately darted away from their now-smoking and disabled escape vehicle (as well as the other injured driver) across lanes of traffic and towards a nearby field,” the VPD stated. “Responding officers immediately converged upon the area and all three women were quickly taken into custody.”
Inside the vehicle officers found merchandise from the outlet store, as well as merchandise and clothing from other stores. Many of the items still had anti-theft tags and sensors attached. Officers learned the exact same group of women were reportedly responsible for a grab-and-run incident just a few hours earlier in nearby Napa, where almost $3,000 worth of sunglasses were stolen.
Lockett and the two other women, Keiara Rowel, 24, San Leandro and Jaishanae Lee, 19, San Francisco were booked into the Solano County Jail on a variety of felony charges including reckless evading, conspiracy, robbery, possession of stolen property, and violation of probation.
