4 Women Arrested In Peninsula Macy's Heist, Police Say

PENINSULA, CA — Police arrested four women accused of shoplifting "large amounts of merchandise" from a Palo Alto Macy's on Sunday, according to the Palo Alto Police Department.

Another shopper called police around 3:48 p.m. Sunday to report a grab-and-run theft at the Macy's inside the Stanford Shopping Center. According to police, a woman watched the four suspects stealing armloads of clothes and shoes and started taking video of the four women.

As the shopper followed the four women, one of them, agitated at being recorded, lunged toward the witness and kicked her in the buttocks, according to police. The woman was unhurt.

The four suspects dropped some of the merchandise as they left the Macy's and fled in a car, police said. The witness who filmed them followed them into the lot and called police, giving descriptions.

Responding officers found a car in East Palo Alto with suspects inside who matched the witness's description. Authorities found more than $5,000 worth of stolen clothing inside the car, and learned that the suspects had planned to resell the items, police said.

Nicole Schrell Garner, 28, of Antioch; Destiny Faith Shephard, 19, of Antioch; Haley Cheri King and Janera Antonette Fraser (both 19 and of East Palo Alto); were booked on suspicion of retail theft, grand theft and possession of stolen property. Fraser is suspected of a misdemeanor battery charge for allegedly kicking the witness, police said.