Court: ‘Police do not arrest white women with children’ alleged shoplifters told suspect

If the suspected shoplifter’s cohorts truly told her what she said they did, it didn’t work.

“Police do not arrest white women with children or juveniles,” an officer testified Dorothy Adkins told him her codefendants said before an alleged shoplifting spree at Columbus’ Peachtree Mall, where police detained her, two other adults and a teenager about 2:30 p.m. Nov. 17 outside the JC Penney store.

Adkins, 26, of LaGrange, Ga., was in Recorder’s Court on Wednesday morning, facing charges of felony shoplifting and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Her two codefendants were not in court because they had been released on bond. According to police and jail records, they are Krystal Smith, 31, and Roshella Moore, 25, also of LaGrange. Smith was released on $5,000 bond and Moore on $2,500 bond, according to the jail.

Police said the three suspects were using baby strollers to conceal the goods they were stealing as they had the younger children walk. They engaged a 14-year-old to help, officers said.

Retail stores are always on the lookout for shoplifters, particularly during the busy holiday shopping season, when typically they hire extra security. Investigators said store security cameras recorded the thefts, and officers working there tracked the suspects to the parking lot outside the 3131 Manchester Expressway mall.

They said Adkins was accompanied by her own young child, whom police released to the father’s custody. The 14-year-old was charged as an accomplice and held in youth detention.

Store tags still were on the goods the suspects took out into the parking lot, officers said. The total value came to $847, crossing the $500 threshold to make the shoplifting charge a felony. Because a teenager was recruited to help with the thefts, Adkins also was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, police said.

Judge Julius Hunter set Adkins’ bonds at $1,000 for felony shoplifting and $250 for recruiting the teenager to help.

Attorneys said Adkins, of LaGrange, Ga., also goes by Foster. Her jail mugshot identifies her as Dorothy Michelle Adkins-Foster.

This story was originally published November 22, 2017 at 11:45 AM with the headline "Court: ‘Police do not arrest white women with children’ alleged shoplifters told suspect."