Just put on probation, woman accused of shoplifting again

A woman who has been convicted of stealing from Mayfair allegedly returned to the mall for an encore performance Saturday.

Shykela Staples, 18, of Milwaukee, was charged of misdemeanor retail theft Monday, a violation of the probation she had been assigned the prior week for stealing in December.

According to the Wauwatosa police report:

Staples and a friend, also an 18-year-old Milwaukee woman, argued with a Boston Store employee before entering the mall at 11:03 a.m. A security guard had tipped off police that Staples had been banned from the mall for the next five years, so she was trespassing.

As police officers approached, they saw Staples hand her purse to a 19-year-old man, who walked off toward the food court. She told police she had no purse and therefore no ID in an effort to evade the ban.

When officers tracked down the man, he had the purse, which was filled with items taken from Gymboree, a children's clothing shop. That led to Staples' retail theft arrest.

The man ended up in handcuffs for marijuana possession. He said he was a rapper who needed weed to relax and get the creative process going.

Staples' friend also had a bag full of items taken from Gymboree, so she was arrested for possession of stolen property.