Staff Reports
Two women were arrested on felony charges Saturday afternoon after they were accused of pushing two shopping carts full of merchandise out of a Columbus store without paying for the merchandise and later led Columbus police officers in a vehicle pursuit.
Shortly before 3 p.m., while on a unrelated call, several CPD officers were flagged down by a witness who observed two women push two shopping carts full of items out of the Dollar General Store, 2550 Eastbrook Plaza, without paying for the merchandise, said Lt. Matt Harris, Columbus Police Department spokesman.
Moments later, the officers observed a passenger car with the trunk open leaving the parking lot at a high rate of speed. The officers activated their patrol vehicle’s emergency lights and sirens and attempted to catch up to the suspects. The suspects traveled west on 25th Street and north on Herman Darlage Drive where they lost control of their vehicle which spun out and came to a stop on a concrete median at the intersection on U.S. 31 and Herman Darlage Drive, Harris said.
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The driver, later identified as Ashlee N. Dyer, 28, of 104 Country Place Circle — 110C, Edinburgh, initially refused to follow commands and attempted to get her vehicle off of the median but eventually stopped and turned off her car, Harris said. Both Dyer and her passenger, Tiffany D. McCammon, 42, of 7605 W. County Road 800N., Elizabethtown, were taken into custody.
The officers recovered a large amount of stolen merchandise valued at over $750 from the suspect’s vehicle which was returned to Dollar General, Harris said.
Dyer and McCammon were transported to the Bartholomew County Jail on the following preliminary charges:
Dyer: Theft (Level 6 felony), resisting law enforcement with a vehicle (Level 6 felony), driving while suspended with a prior conviction (Class A misdemeanor), reckless driving (Class C misdemeanor). She was being held in lieu of $25,500 bond, jail officials said.
McCammon: Theft (Level 6 felony). She was released on $7,500 bond, jail officials said.
