Woman Charged With Allegedly Helping to Steal a Cartload of Items

A Minneapolis woman has been charged with felony theft for allegedly helping steal a cartload of merchandise from the Apple Valley Home Depot store last December.

According to a Dakota County criminal complaint filed in August, Shakeena Takeema Tracy Flax, 24, was charged with aggregating felony theft for allegedly aiding in the attempted theft of $1,604 in items from Home Depot. If found guilty, she faces a penalty of up to five years in jail and up to a $10,000 fine.

According to the complaint:

On Dec. 29, an Apple Valley Police officer responded to a storage facility on Foliage Avenue—near the Home Depot—after a witness reportedly saw two men chasing a woman and noticed a cart of Home Depot merchandise on a nearby sidewalk.

Police visited the Home Depot, where the store manager said he saw three woman push a shopping cart loaded with merchandise out of the store without paying. Two store employees reportedly confronted the women outside of the store. Two of the women got into a silver BMW and left the parking lot, while the other woman raced off with the loaded shopping cart.

A short time later, police stopped a BMW reportedly matching the store employees’ description. Flax allegedly was driving the car, and two other women were passengers. Police reportedly searched the car and discovered items appearing to be from Home Depot in the trunk.

The women were taken to the Apple Valley Police Department, where one of the passengers allegedly admitted being with the other passenger when she took items from the Apple Valley Home Depot, as well as the Home Depot in Bloomington.

Police reportedly confirmed through surveillance video that the items in the trunk were stolen from the Bloomington Home Depot earlier that day. The contents of the trunk were valued at $1,594.47.