FBI arrests woman suspected in death of nail salon owner

A woman suspected of hitting and killing a nail salon owner with her car after refusing to pay for a manicure was arrested Friday in Glendale, officials said.

Krystal Whipple, 21, allegedly attempted to pay for a $35 manicure at a Las Vegas nail salon with a fraudulent credit card on Dec. 29, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. She told salon workers she would run out to her car to retrieve cash after her card was declined.

Police said Whipple tried to drive away instead. Surveillance footage showed Whipple leaving the salon followed by the owner, Nhu “Annie” Ngoc Quynh Nguyen, and her husband. Nguyen tried to run in front of the car to stop Whipple from driving off, but “the suspect did not stop and struck the victim with the car,” police said in a statement.

Nguyen later died at the hospital. Whipple’s stolen rental car was found abandoned at a nearby apartment complex.

Las Vegas police investigators later learned Whipple was in Arizona.

The information was passed on to the FBI Phoenix Violent Crime Task Force, which arrested her in Glendale Friday afternoon.

The Phoenix FBI deferred all questions to the Las Vegas bureau, which did not immediately respond Friday to a request for additional information from The Arizona Republic.