FOND DU LAC – Two Madison women were arrested April 27 in Fond du Lac on accusations of habitual shoplifting, according to a news release from the Fond du Lac Police Department.
At about 2:35 p.m. Sunday, the police department received a report of a vehicle connected to a retail theft in Winnebago County, after Flock Safety license plate recognition cameras identified the vehicle and triggered an alert near the intersection of West Johnson Street and North Pioneer Road.
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Officers found the vehicle as it exited the parking lot of a nearby Kohl’s store, and a Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office deputy assisted officers in trying to stop the vehicle as it entered Interstate 41 southbound.
When the driver refused to stop, she prompted a short pursuit at the speed of traffic that ended north of South Military Road.
The driver, a 40-year-old woman, and the passenger, a 26-year-old woman, were taken into custody without incident.
Officers then followed up with Kohl’s, and the store confirmed the two women had entered the store, filled two Kohl’s-branded bags with $1,725 in merchandise, and left without paying before law enforcement had found them leaving the parking lot.
Both women face felony retail theft charges, and the driver faces additional charges with the sheriff’s office related to the pursuit.
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“This incident highlights the effectiveness of technology like Flock license plate recognition systems in supporting real-time policing and inter-agency collaboration,” Fond du Lac Police Chief Aaron Goldstein said in the release. “Thanks to the alert and the coordinated efforts of our officers and partnering agencies, we were able to safely apprehend the suspects and prevent further criminal activity in our Fond du Lac community.”
No other information was released. Wisconsin State Patrol also assisted in the incident.
Contact Daphne Lemke at dlemke@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Fond du Lac Reporter: Habitual shoplifting suspects from Madison arrested in Fond du Lac