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Shoplifter Pepper Sprays Store Clerk Who Tried to Stop Her, Police Say

By DNAinfo Staff on February 17, 2016 1:45pm

 Police arrested a 28-year-old woman after she allegedly punched and pepper sprayed a man trying to stop her from shoplifting at the discount store on 116th Street.
Police arrested a 28-year-old woman after she allegedly punched and pepper sprayed a man trying to stop her from shoplifting at the discount store on 116th Street.
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DNAinfo/Gustavo Solis

EAST HARLEM — A woman caught shoplifting doused a discount store employee with pepper spray when he tried to intervene, police said.

The suspect assaulted an $1 $2 $3 USA Superstore employee at a on 64 East 116th St. while attempting to steal $11 worth of bathroom supplies about 2:30 p.m. on February 11, according to the NYPD.

An employee at the store, Ramu Bhandari, saw a woman take two sink-skirts and a bath mat from the wall and put them in a black plastic back, he said. 

"I told her, 'Miss, don't do that,'" said Bhandari. who has worked as a clerk for more than a year. 

Bhandari recognized the suspect because he said she comes into the store every few months. Other employees have told her she is not allowed in the store.

The woman punched him in the chest and darted out of the store. A few minutes later she came back into the store and pepper sprayed Bhandari in the face from close range, he said. 

He was able to turn his head and shield his eyes but the spray landed around his temple and ear. 

"There was a lot of burning for five or six hours," he said.

Other customers inside the store called police, who were outside the store soon after the incident.  

A short time later police officers found the suspect in a nearby candy store, according to the NYPD.

She has been charged with assault, harassment, and petit larceny and was released on her own recognizance a day after her arrest, records show. Her charges were later dropped and the case was sealed.

Her lawyer was not available to comment on the case.