Woman arrested in Hernando County after pepper spraying deputies during Walmart theft: HCSO
Photos courtesy: Hernando County Sheriff's Office
BROOKSVILLE, Fla. - Two women were arrested in Hernando County after they attempted to rob multiple people in a Walmart, one of them pepper-spraying multiple deputies in the process, according to the sheriff's office.
A Hernando County Sheriff's Office deputy was in the Walmart store located at 13300 Cortez Boulevard in Brooksville on Wednesday taking a report of a theft at the store from the previous day when the suspects returned.
During the theft on the previous day, the two suspects had stolen a wallet from a victim's purse in the store and then used their credit cards to make over $2,000 in fraudulent purchases, according to HCSO.
The deputy observed the two suspects on live video as one of them distracted an elderly woman and the other removed her wallet from her purse. According to the sheriff's office, the deputy then approached the two suspects.
When confronted by the deputy, one of the suspects, later identified as Keyisha Henderson, 48, reached into her purse and discharged a can of pepper spray toward the deputy.
Henderson then fled the area while the deputy was incapacitated by the pepper spray. Walmart asset protection detained the second suspect, Kierra Tolliver, 33.
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Another deputy who was nearby then located Henderson as she tried to leave the store; Henderson again discharged her pepper spray toward the deputy but only struck him on the arm.
The second deputy was able to draw his taser, and Henderson dropped the can of pepper spray and was taken into custody without further incident.
According to the sheriff's office, Henderson had previously been convicted of 39 felony offenses, incarcerated five times, and has an active warrant out of St. Lucie County. She was taken to the Hernando County Detention Center where she's being held on $82,000 bond.
She faces multiple charges including two counts of Battery on Law Enforcement Officer and two counts of Resisting an Officer with Violence. Tolliver was charged with two counts of Petit Theft and Fraudulent Use of a Credit Card.