Shoplifting Suspect Faces More Serious Charges

An Illinois woman was arrested Monday on theft and drug charges after she was allegedly caught shoplifting at a Paducah Walmart.

Paducah Police responded to the Walmart on Hinkleville Road Monday afternoon after receiving a report that a woman was walking out of the store with items she had not paid for. When officers told the woman to stop, she reportedly began yelling and causing a disturbance outside the store.  She then ran back inside the foyer where she struggled with officers. The woman, identified as 39-year-old Wendy Sue Roeder of Cypress, IL, was handcuffed, and officers found a pipe containing suspected marijuana in her possession.

A car , driven by a friend of Roeder, left the scene, and a McCracken County Sheriff's deputy stopped the vehicle at New Holt Road and Hinkleville Road. Deputies located Roeder's purse inside the vehicle and allegedly found another pipe and a small amount of marijuana in the purse.

Roeder was arrested and transported to the McCracken County Jail.  Her friend was not detained. When officers removed Roeder from the car at the jail, they found a substance believed to be methamphetamine on the seat. Police say Roeder had a plastic container in her hand that she said contained methamphetamine.

Roeder was charged with theft by unlawful taking (less than $500), second-degree disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and first-degree possession of a controlled substance (second offense, methamphetamine).