SW Minneapolis Woman Arrested for Theft, Drug Possession in Dakota County

A Southwest Minneapolis woman has been charged with heroin possession in Dakota County after police say they found drugs in her pockets when she was arrested for shoplifting from a pharmacy.

Kristen Marie Williams, 21, of the 3600 block of Stevens Avenue, is charged with two felonies: fifth-degree drug possession, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, and theft, which has a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $3,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, Apple Valley police were called to a CVS Pharmacy just after 6:30 p.m. May 5 on a shoplifting report. 

An employee told police that she and a coworker were at the front of the store when they saw a woman, later identified as Williams, leave the store without paying for merchandise and set off an alarm.

The two employees ran after Williams, but she got into a van with two men inside, and they drove away, according to the complaint.

Surveillance video showed Williams entering the store carrying reusable shopping bags, filling them with merchandise and then leaving without paying. One of the employees provided police with the woman’s license plate number, and officers located and stopped the van.

Williams admitted to police that she had gone into another pharmacy in Apple Valley and had stolen several items there, then said she and her two companions had driven to a CVS on Dove Trail, where she did the same, the complaint says.

Police found the stolen items, valued at $730, in the van.

After Williams was arrested, police searched her and found several small plastic bags and a short red straw in her pocket, all of which contained a white powdery residue. The substance later tested positive for heroin.

Williams is free on a $1,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in her case is scheduled July 17 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.