LYNNWOOD, Wash. — KIRO 7 received new information on a Lynnwood woman who is now charged with being a serial robber of Ulta Beauty stores across Western Washington and Oregon.
We’d heard reports she’d threatened people with bear spray as she broke into locked cases full of perfume with hammers, doing $450,000 in damage and stolen products.
On Tuesday, the same woman was accused of threatening an off-duty Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy with bear spray when he tried to physically stop her from doing the same thing at an Ulta store in Lake Stevens.
This robbery was reported the day after Christmas.
The off-duty deputy told police he was shopping when he heard glass display cases shattering in another store. He confronted two women, and he said one of them pulled bear spray and threatened to spray him if he got too close.
As they left with the stolen items, the deputy took photos of the car and the license plate.
That led police to the 26-year-old woman in Lynwood, where she had four felony arrest warrants including three for organized retail theft.
Investigators now believe she’s been doing this for two years. Court documents say the suspect told detectives she was a heavy drug user and had no memory of the robberies.