Woman Banned from Ankeny Walmart Following Profanity, Demolished Displays: 2012 in Review

Editor's Note: As the year winds down, Ankeny Patch is looking back at some of the stories from 2012 that made you talk, cry, laugh or simply scratch your head in bewilderment.

_______________________________

By Megan VerHelst

Story first ran on April 18

An Iowa City woman faced charges after she allegedly destroyed merchandise and swore at Ankeny Walmart employees when they wouldn’t let her return something not on her receipt.

Jenell E. Nyberg, 26, was arrested by Ankeny police in the early morning hours of April 9 after she left Walmart, 1002 S.E. National Drive, on her bike. She eventually was apprehended in the 2600 block of Southeast Hulsizer Road and arrested for failing to cooperate with officers.

According to police logs, an officer was called to Walmart at about 1:45 a.m. Before officers arrive, Nyberg allegedly tried to return an item at the store, but employees refused because the item was not on her receipt.

Nyberg then swore at Walmart staff and was asked to leave, the call logs said.  On her way out, she allegedly destroyed a couple of merchandise displays.

Officers located Nyberg minutes later, said Capt. Joe Schaffer of the Ankeny Police Department, near the PDI Distribution Center, where she continued to flee north on Southeast Hulsizer Road.

Officers pursued her on foot and Nyberg eventually was stopped by a marked patrol car blocking her way, Schaffer said.

Although Nyberg was not violent toward officers, she was arrested and taken to the Polk County Jail. She later was charged with interference with official acts and failure to have an operable headlamp or reflector on her bicycle.

Nyberg also was issued a trespass notice by Wal-Mart management, which subsequently bans her from the property.