Woman Caught Shoplifting Uses Mannequin To Assault Store Employee

LANCASTER (CBS) — A woman suspected of shoplifting used a mannequin to wreak chaos at a discount store in Lancaster Monday.

The suspect was apparently caught trying to steal a bag of men's jeans inside the Discount Citi store in Lancaster about 4:30 p.m. Monday when she tried to escape.

Instead, Jackie Huwey, the store manager, locked her inside the store.

"She's trying to get out, and she's like pushing my co-worker out of the way so she can try to get out and we wouldn't let her out," she said.

The woman got desperate and grabbed whatever she could to try and break out.

"Then she grabs this mannequin that's got a pole at the bottom and three metal legs so it'll stand up, and she tips it over backwards and is trying to bang on the window and tries to break it so she can get out. And she didn't even get out, she ended up throwing it, hitting me in the leg with it and then running over to the wall where the fire extinguisher was," said Huwey.

Police said she busted the front door with the fire extinguisher just as her husband helped pull her free.

"A guy is on the other side helping her this whole time," said Huwey.

While a thief wielding a mannequin may have attacked Huwey, she said it's just another day on the job.

"I've been dealing with robbers all the time, this is the east side, it's a bad area. I get robbers in here everyday," she said.

Police said bizarre crimes like this happen on a regular basis in Lancaster.

The woman did manage to escape the store, however police did arrest the woman's husband.