Photo: Amirah L. Dennard
SAN RAFAEL — A woman who allegedly is the queen of grab-and-run thievery at Northgate Mall has been arrested. She is suspected of stealing at least $18,000 worth of merchandise.
Starting in April, police began receiving reports about a woman running away with armloads of stolen merchandise. During one such grab-and-run incident in August, she threatened to pepper spray a store employee.
Detectives reviewing videos recorded by surveillance cameras and vehicle descriptions identified the suspect. She is 19-year-old Amirah L. Dennard, a resident of Suisun City. However, they were unable to locate Dennard at any of her last known addresses.
Determined detectives set up a stakeout at the mall parking lot, where Dennard was observed entering Kohl’s department store. Detectives followed her inside, where they watched her piling clothing over her arms. Upon noticing the detectives approaching, she dropped everything and started running through the store.
A store employee attempted to block Dennard from leaving. In response, she squirted the employee with pepper spray. Detectives chasing her were also doused with pepper spray. This was all recorded by store security cameras.
Despite their stinging eyes, detectives arrested Dennard on October 23 without further incident. They subsequently searched her car, parked in a red zone, where they found a large quantity of stolen clothing.
Dennard was transported to Marin County Jail and booked on open charges. She remains in custody in lieu of $60,000 bond, pending a court hearing on October 31. This marks the sixth time that Dennard has been arrested this year.
Her latest charges include multiple felonies and misdemeanors for burglary, robbery, and of course shoplifting. She has five prior arrests for credit card forgery and driver’s license forgery, among other offenses.
Dennard is also being investigated for 11 other reported grab-and-run thefts. Meanwhile, detectives are trying to determine if Dennard may be responsible for similar crimes throughout the San Francisco Bay area.
