Tragedy strikes
Woman killed in car wreck after suspected 'Hello Kitty' purse thief flees Walmart
After allegedly shoplifting a Hello Kitty purse and a few other small items from a Pasadena Walmart, a woman who fled in a pickup truck ran a red light early Sunday morning and killed a 50-year-old mother and injured her teenage daughter.
Pasadena Police Department spokesman Vance Mitchell told CultureMap that the accused shoplifter shoved a security guard to the ground and ran out of the Walmart — located in the 5200 block of Fairmont Parkway — around 1 a.m. on Sunday after leaving with unpaid merchandise, thought to be worth less than $50.
Once out of the parking lot, she headed eastbound on Fairmont Parkway and ran a red light at Nations where she slammed into a car that was headed through the intersection.
The driver, Baytown resident Anita Benton, was killed instantly and her teenage daughter, either 13 or 14-years-old, was taken by Life Flight to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The alleged shoplifter, whose name was not released as the incident is under investigation, was taken to the hospital and is expected to face criminal charges in the next few days, Mitchell said.
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