For one of four women charged after an alleged $3,200 shoplifting spree, the situation may have gone from bad to worse when she allegedly attacked an employee with pepper spray during the incident.

Ebony Danisha Brown, 24, of Minneapolis, was charged Tuesday with first-degree aggravated robbery and felony theft after she was arrested Sunday afternoon at the Wal-Mart store in Coon Rapids. One of the other women, Loneisha Denise Elmore, 21, was charged with felony theft, and another, Dashaudra Nicolle Powell, 27, with aiding and abetting theft, also a felony. A fourth woman, Lapraishia Lana Ndegwa, 27, was charged with a traffic violation after she was found to be driving without a valid license.

Situations like this are relatively rare, said Capt. Brad Wise, of the Coon Rapids Police Investigative Division. "Most often people who commit thefts like that try not to make it a more serious problem by using force," he said.

Wise said that planned group theft operations also are fairly rare. "Usually, people are doing it on their own," he said. "Stealing from others tends to be a private act, where you don't want others to know you're a thief."

According to a criminal complaint filed in Anoka County Court, a Wal-Mart employee came upon the first three women in the store's lawn and garden department, stuffing merchandise into new Wal-Mart bags. When he attempted to deter the alleged theft by telling them that police officers were waiting outside, the women laughed at him; two went to scout the outside of the store.

The employee called police.

The three women left the store with three shopping carts full of merchandise, but a surveillance camera at the door captured video of Brown spraying the employee in the face with pepper spray as he confronted her outside, the complaint said.

Before police intercepted Powell in the parking lot, the complaint said, witnesses saw her running across the parking lot and throwing a large-screen television behind some trees. Despite his injuries, the employee and another store worker were able to give police a description of the other women's vehicle and a license plate number. The other three were stopped in a blue Chevrolet Suburban on Round Lake Boulevard near Hwy. 10. Police found new, unused Wal-Mart bags, along with new, tagged clothing, and no receipts, the complaint said.

Brown was released Tuesday on $10,000 bail; Powell and Elmore were released on $3,000 bail. Ndegwa was released on her own recognizance.

Maria Elena Baca • 612-673-4409