Woman arrested for grazing at grocery stores

Many people have made a meal off the free samples offered during a trip to the grocery store, but a 35-year-old Milwaukee woman is accused of turning Wauwatosa supermarkets into personal buffets.

According to the Wauwatosa police report:

Staff at Pick 'n Save, 6950 W. State St., recognized her at 12:49 p.m. Feb. 15 as the woman who had spent two to three hours walking through the store and eating items from the shelves and deli area on the two prior days. This time she filled her cart and pushed it around while snacking for more than an hour. A store employee approached her and asked if she planned to pay for the food she had eaten.

She said she had not planned to pay and offered to leave the store, but store staff wanted her arrested for theft. She quickly became loud and argumentative.

Pick 'n Save employees learned she also had been sampling at Metcalfe's Market, 6700 W. State St., Feb. 10. Following that incident, the woman complained that her leg hurt and she could no longer walk so an ambulance was called and the police call was canceled.

The woman tried the same excuse following her arrest at Pick 'n Save. She had no problem walking to the patrol car but after arriving at the police station she turned her foot inward and said she was unable to walk. Then she flopped onto the floor and had to be lifted by officers.

Soon she was standing again, saying her foot "works on and off." She refused to sit and wait to be booked, and kicked an officer in the knee, causing bruising and swelling.

Her arrest for retail theft quickly expanded to include battery to an officer.