COLUMBUS – A woman caught stealing at the Tanger Outlets in Delaware County is being charged with several crimes, including robbery, after leading sheriff’s deputies on a chase that included some gunshots.
It all started routinely enough with a call from OshKosh to report a shoplifting, but Alana Hissong did not want to go quietly.
The 28-year-old woman knocked over a deputy in the parking lot as she tried to drive away from the mall, located off U.S. Route 36 east of I-71, and started driving toward another deputy on foot who fired at her, according to a report by WBNS 10-TV.
Hissong crashed her truck about two miles away and was charged with impaired driving, failure to yield, driving under suspension and a seat belt violation by the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Delaware County Sheriff Russell Martin says she will also be charged with robbery and investigators say she already had a warrant out for her arrest for possession of drugs.
Martin says theft has become such a problem at the Tanger Outlets so his office has increased patrols there. Officials say shoplifting is up 80% in Delaware County so far this year, compared to this time last year and much of it is attributed to the presence of the mall.