Woman Who Fired at Alleged Shoplifters Charged

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A Clarkston woman who opened fire last week to stop alleged shoplifters in an Auburn Hills Home Depot parking lot has been charged with reckless use, handling or discharge of a handgun.

Tatiana Duva-Rodriguez, 46, was arraigned Tuesday in 52-3 District Court in Rochester Hills. A not-guilty plea was entered in her behalf.

The incident unfolded the afternoon of Oct. 6, when Duva-Rodriguez, who holds a concealed pistol license, reportedly used her handgun to flatten the tires of the alleged shoplifters’ Kia Rondo as it left the parking lot on Joslyn Road.

No one was injured in the incident, but the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office and Auburn Hills Police Department said in a statement that Duva-Rodriguez was “misguided” in her “attempt to disable the vehicle to stop two reported shoplifters.”

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“If this is proven, I find it very disturbing that someone would take out their gun in a busy parking lot and shoot at the tires of a passing car,” Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper said in the statement. “Once fired, the bullet could have easily ricocheted or fragmented and injured or killed someone else. It would have been much more helpful for her to take out her cellphone and shoot pictures of the shoplifter’s license plate.”

Describing Duva-Rodriguez as a “warm-hearted, family-oriented” person, her attorney, Steven L. Schwartz, told the Detroit Free Press his client made “a split-second decision to take action, trying to help.”

“Never, ever did she intend to harm anybody,” Schwartz told the newspaper.

Duva-Rodriguez, who posted a $5,000 personal bond, is due back in court Oct. 26. If convicted, she faces a possible 90-day jail sentence, plus a fine, police said.

Two Flint men, age 46 and 52, have been arrested in connection with the alleged shoplifting incident.