Pepper Spray Used Against TJ Maxx Employee In Newton

NEWTON, MA — Newton police are searching for a shoplifted who pepper-sprayed a TJ Maxx employee Sunday while stealing from the store, reported NBC 10.

The woman was caught on surveillance camera walking out of the Needham Street store carrying two pink Balenciaga bags and a St. Laurent hoodie. She is then seen pepper-spraying an employee in the face, after which the employee struggled with the woman at the door.

The victim was taken to a hospital because her eyes were swollen shut.

"This is very disturbing to us,” Lt. Bruce Apotheker of the Newton Police Department told NBC 10. We never want anybody, any employee, to ever try to stop someone, ever try to get involved in any way.”

"The way you should get involved is by being our eyes and ears,” he continued. "This was only Mace used this time — it could be some other instrument or some other type of weapon that could be more deadly.”

A similar incident took place in early February, when police say two women were involved in a robbery at a CVS in Newton and one of them pepper sprayed an employee who tried to intervene.