An employee who was trying to prevent a shoplifting at a west Little Rock department store was sprayed in the face with a "pepper spray-like substance" by one of the assailants, according to a Little Rock Police Department report.
It happened shortly before 10 p.m. Friday at the Kohl's at 13909 Chenal Parkway.
The victim told police he saw 49-year-old Melissa Brignola and a man with her "take and conceal" a portable charger and a camera before leaving without paying for the items, according to the report.
Police say the employee followed the two outside and tried to detain them, but he then got into a struggle with Brignola.
She yelled to the man with her to "come back and get him off of me," the report said, noting the man "came up to [the employee] and sprayed him in the face" with the substance. Police wrote in the report that the area around the victim's eyes were "red and puffy" when officers arrived.
Brignola was taken into custody. She was later booked into the Pulaski County jail on charges of robbery and theft of property, online records show. She remained jailed late Monday morning with bail set at $5,000.
The man who used the spray had not been arrested at the time of the report.
