Woman Charged With Resisting Arrest, Shoplifting

A West Milford woman was pepper sprayed while police attempted to subdue her after a reported shoplifting occurred at The Avenue on Sunday.

Ann Swann was charged with shoplifting, resisting arrest, and hindering apprehension after reported she stole a dozen watches from store in the Brentwood Plaza on Route 23.

Officer Skylar Cauceglia responded to a report of shoplifting at the store, a police report on the incident states. He and other officers searched the area for a light blue Oldsmobile that Swann reportedly left the scene in, Cauceglia reported.

Cauceglia states in the report that he approached a vehicle in the parking lot of the Glen Eagle Plaza, located a short way down Route 23 South from The Avenue, that matched the description of one involved in the incident.

While Cauceglia was approaching the vehicle, a woman passenger exited it and walked away from him, the report states. Cauceglia caught up to the woman and asked her several times to stop and remove her hands from her pockets, which she refused to do, the report states. When she turned to run away, Cauceglia attempted to subdue the woman, but she violently flailed her arms, kicked her feet, and resisted with extreme force, the report states.

Cauceglia then shot pepper spray into the woman’s eyes, the report staes. The woman was taken into custody and transported to St. Joseph’s Wayne Hospital, the report states.

Police reported finding a dozen watches, later identified as being from The Avenue, in a woman’s purse in the vehicle.

Stanley Alston, the driver of the vehicle, and John Richardson, a passenger in the vehicle, were each issued a summons for receiving stolen property; they were each assigned a court date and released later that night, the report states.

Swann was treated at St. Joseph’s and transported back to police headquarters, Cauceglia reported.  She initally told police that her name was Samantha Richardson. However a fingerprint check revealed her to be Swann, of West Milford, police reported.

Swann was charged with shoplifting, resisting arrest, and hindering apprehension for providing false information about her identity. She had 10 outstanding warrants, including five from Wayne totaling more than $4,400.

She was transported to the Passaic County Jail in default of bail, police reported.