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Fiancées arrested together in felony liquor, tampon thefts at Walmart

Breeana Lenee Smart, 26, left, and Jazzmine Lenay Johnson, 25, were booked into the Pinal County jail on felony shoplifting charges. [Pinal County Sheriff’s Office]

Two women who identified themselves to police as fiancées were arrested together Feb. 21 after Maricopa officers say they stole medication, alcohol and tampons from Walmart on Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway — their third heist at the store in the last 90 days, according to court records.

Breeana Lenee Smart, 26, and Jazzmine Lenay Johnson, 25, were booked into the Pinal County jail on felony shoplifting charges. Johnson was also charged with false reporting, and Smart faces additional charges of resisting arrest and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.

According to probable cause statements filed in Western Pinal Justice Court, officers were dispatched about 4:22 p.m. to the Walmart after loss prevention detained Johnson on suspicion of shoplifting.

Store staff told police Johnson had previously shoplifted from the store on Feb. 10, an incident documented in an earlier Maricopa Police Department report. Video footage from that case showed Johnson and an unknown accomplice with face tattoos stealing $64.73 worth of alcohol, according to court documents.

On Feb. 21, officers were told Johnson again entered the store and removed $156.53 in painkillers and tampons before passing all points of sale without paying. During a post-Miranda interview, Johnson admitted to participating in the Feb. 10 alcohol theft and to leaving the store with unpaid merchandise that afternoon, according to court documents.

When asked about her accomplice from Feb. 10, Johnson told officers it was Smart but said she did not know her and described her as a relative’s friend, according to court documents. Police later noted Smart’s ID card was found in Johnson’s wallet.

As Johnson was being escorted out of the store Feb. 21, officers recognized Smart walking in front of the business and attempted to detain her, records state.

In a separate probable cause statement, officers wrote that Smart had previously committed shoplifting on Feb. 10 by concealing alcohol with her fiancée. On Feb. 21, after being contacted outside the store, Smart pulled away from an officer, ripped the officer’s body camera from his vest and yelled while taking what was described as an aggressive stance, according to court records.

Court records show both women had prior shoplifting charges on Dec. 20 and Feb. 11, making the Feb. 21 arrests their third shoplifting case within 90 days. That designation elevated the charges to felony shoplifting for each, according to prosecutors.

In related news…

Ashley Hartsfield

In a separate Feb. 16 case at the same Walmart, Ashley Diann Hartsfield, 29, was arrested on suspicion of felony theft and shoplifting, according to court documents.

Police responded about 3:45 p.m. to a report that a woman with facial tattoos had stolen items by passing all points of sale without paying. Surveillance video showed the woman taking assorted merchandise valued at approximately $430.59, including a bottle of alcohol, before leaving the store, records state.

Officers later contacted Hartsfield at a residence on Patricia Lane in the Desert Passage neighborhood. According to the probable cause statement, she admitted to committing the offense and said she entered the store with the intent to shoplift. Due to prior theft and armed robbery convictions, police wrote she would be charged with felony shoplifting and felony theft.

Her arrest came two weeks after she was jailed following a slow-speed police pursuit through Maricopa neighborhoods in early February.

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