Mt. Juliet, Tenn. – While an officer was enforcing a handicap parking violation, the owner of the car shoplifted a cart full of groceries and pushed it out to the illegally parked car and awaiting officer. On Friday, February 6, 2015 around 9:00 a.m., a Mt. Juliet police officer observed a gray 2006 BMW car parked illegally in a handicapped parking space at Kroger, located at 401 S. Mt. Juliet Road.
Melody N. Cummings, 39, of Hermitage
The car’s owner, identified as Melody Cummings, 39, of Hermitage, pushed out a shopping cart full of groceries to the awaiting officer, who was in the process of issuing a citation for her illegally parked car. The officer found it odd that none of the groceries were bagged, and Cummings could not produce a receipt for the items. Kroger management was contacted, and it was determined that Cummings did, in fact, push out $227.10 worth of unpaid groceries.
Further investigation revealed that Cummings had an active aggravated assault arrest warrant for a previous attempted shoplifting incident where she assaulted a Target loss prevention agent with her car. On Saturday, January 24, 2015, loss prevention witnessed Cummings pushing a shopping cart full of merchandise in an attempted shoplifting at Target, located at 401 S. Mt. Juliet Road. Cummings became suspicious, ditched the shopping cart, and ran to her car. As Cummings was leaving the Target parking lot, in an attempt to get away, she struck the loss prevention agent with her BMW. The loss prevention agent received minor injuries during the incident, and a warrant was obtained for Cummings arrest.
Cummings was arrested and booked into the Wilson County Jail, charged with Theft of Property – Shoplifting and Aggravated Assault. She is set to appear in court on April 26, 2015.
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