Cops: Women tried to steal $3K worth of merchandise at Hempfield Walmart

Two 20-year-old women were arrested early Tuesday by state police trying to flee the Walmart store in Hempfield without paying for $3,276 worth of items.

Megan M. Bender of Connellsville and Julie L. Thomas of New Stanton were arraigned on charges of robbery, retail theft and harassment following the incident that occurred at 2:33 a.m. at the store at Greengate Centre.

Trooper Roy Mumau said store employees were monitoring the pair as they loaded items from multiple departments into their shopping carts. Bender and Thomas were stopped as they unsuccessfully attempted to wheel the carts out of the store bypassing the cash registers, Mumau reported.

Bender and Thomas both attempted to push past store employees using their carts, striking the employees in the process, according to court papers filed with District Judge Mark Mansour.

“Thomas then spit on and struck (the employee) in the face with her fist,” Mumau wrote.

Mansour ordered Bender and Thomas held in the Westmoreland County Prison after failing to post $25,000 bail each pending preliminary hearings Feb. 8.

Paul Peirce is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paul at 724-850-2860, ppeirce@tribweb.com or via Twitter @ppeirce_trib.