Woman acquitted on robbery charge
A local woman accused of attacking and threatening store employees who allegedly caught her shoplifting last year was found not guilty of a felony count of robbery after a one- day trial Tuesday in Garland County Circuit Court.
Shelia Kay Johnson, 45, was arrested Nov. 14, 2014, and originally charged with aggravated robbery, but the charge was amended April 6 to robbery, punishable by up to 20 years in prison. After deliberating for about one hour, the seven- man, five- woman jury found Johnson not guilty of the charge.
Johnson, who had remained in custody in lieu of $ 25,000 bond since her arrest, was still being held Wednesday on a parole hold while a prior hold by U. S. marshal’s had been withdrawn, according to inmate records.
Johnson is classified as a habitual offender with prior convictions in 1992 in Pulaski County for theft of property; in 2007 for theft by receiving of a credit-debit card and in 2010 for second- degree forgery, both in Garland County; and in 2010 in Perry County for possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to manufacture methamphetamine.
Mark Fraiser, Johnson’s court- appointed attorney, said Wednesday Johnson had claimed all along she wasn’t shoplifting and the alleged incident was “all over” by the time Garland County sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene at the Dollar General, 4310 Park Ave.
Fraiser said the store manager had indicated she would provide a security video to the prosecution which showed the incident, but the video was never delivered. He noted the store manager was reportedly later arrested and charged along with her boyfriend for burglarizing the store and apparently they had destroyed the videos to cover their actions.
Fraiser said the manager was supposed to be a witness at Johnson’s trial, but she didn’t show up so “we were back to square one.” Without the video, it basically came down to the employees’ word over Johnson’s.
Fraiser said he couldn’t speculate on why the jury made its decision, but noted, “It was certainly beneficial to Mrs. Johnson.”
According to the affidavit, the store manager stated that on Oct. 10, shortly before 8 p. m., a woman, later identified as Johnson, came into the store accompanied by a man, 50, and woman, 49, and once inside, the manager and two employees reportedly saw Johnson concealing merchandise, valued at $ 62.75, in her purse.
The manager and employees stated they confronted Johnson about the theft and she allegedly punched one employee in the face and told the others she had a gun and they needed to let her go or she would shoot them.
The suspect then fled the store into a wooded area behind the building. Before she fled, one employee was able to take away her purse, which was found to still have the stolen merchandise inside.
GCSD Deputy Clayton Green responded to the scene and checked the purse and found two IDs, one belonging to Johnson and one belonging to another woman. Green spoke to the man and woman who had come in with the suspect and they identified the suspect as Johnson.
The two store employees also identified Johnson as the one they had confronted after being shown a driver’s license photo of her. GCSD Investigator Russell Severns later obtained a felony warrant for Johnson’s arrest.