Samaritans thwart shoplifters

DELTA — Police credit two good Samaritans with helping bust two shoplifting suspects in Delta last week.

Julie Skelly, 34, and Dustin Hyatt, 31, both of Grand Junction were accused of stealing close to $3,000 in electronics from the Delta Wal-Mart Nov. 24, then fleeing the scene in a vehicle as store employees gave chase.

But the alleged heist was unraveled by two customers, whom, police say, followed after the suspect vehicle, relaying its whereabouts to police.

“They had significant amounts of merchandise and there was an eyewitness that was pulling out of the parking lot that they almost hit,” Delta Police Department spokeswoman Jamie Head alleged. “They (witness and his passenger) saw the employees chasing after the vehicle and yelling for it to stop. They got on the phone and called 911. It was definitely a wonderful assist.”

According to Head and to public arrest affidavits, a Wal-Mart employee was slightly injured when the vehicle ran over her foot. The woman was able to pull one of the purloined items from the back of the suspects’ truck as it sped out of the parking lot.

Delta Wal-Mart manager Robert Owenby said the woman was off-duty and he thought she’d sprained her ankle while chasing the suspects. “We don’t ever want any of our associates to put themselves in harm’s way,” Owenby said.

Store staff called police “right off the bat,” he said.

Owenby said he hadn’t been aware of the two customers who followed the suspect vehicle.

According to the affidavits, Hyatt was spotted throwing the merchandise over the fence at Wal-Mart’s garden center; the assistant manager later provided a description that matched Hyatt’s.

The witnesses reportedly saw Hyatt’s truck speed out of the lot and nearly strike their vehicle as they drove out of the store’s tire-care center. They also saw the Wal-Mart employees chasing after the truck, so they followed it to Mesa View Cemetery. They reported seeing the truck turn sharply behind the mortuary building, where the occupants shut off the headlights and fled.

Police, already on their way to the scene, arrived at the mortuary moments later, where they found the vehicle unoccupied.

Officer José Chavira spotted one of the suspects lying down on a staircase, and drew his gun, ordering that person to show himself or herself. That’s when he noticed the second person hiding at the bottom of he staircase. He gave “more stern” commands at that time, as did a second officer approaching from the other side.

The two suspects were checked for weapons and arrested. According to the affidavit, Chavira overheard a cell phone conversation between Hyatt and another individual, during which Hyatt allegedly stated: “they made us at the store as we were leaving.”

The suspects declined to speak to officers about what had happened.

Officers recovered several boxes of electronics, including TVs, car stereos, cameras, cell phones and other merchandise, some of which still had security tags attached.

Skelly was arrested on suspicion of theft between $500 and $15,000 and violation of bail bond conditions. According to her arrest affidavit, she had recently bonded out of jail in Mesa County, where she was accused of possessing a controlled substance with intent to distribute, child abuse and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Hyatt was arrested on suspicion of theft between $500 and $15,000, reckless endangerment,  reckless driving and driving while license cancelled or denied.

His arrest affidavit said he was on probation for a weapons offense.

Both suspects have posted bail; $10,000 for Skelly and $5,000 for Hyatt. They were due in court this morning.