Residents in Hemet, California who warned about crime at Wal-Mart supercenters must have been saying “I told you so” this week when city taxpayers had to pay for a response to criminal activity at the brand new store. A man kidnapped and robbed a 39 year old woman as she was leaving the Wal-Mart Supercenter around 9 p.m. The abductor appeared in the back seat of her car. As the woman drove out of the parking lot, the man grabbed the woman’s
neck and put a knife to her throat, police reported. The man ordered the woman to drive west away from the Wal-Mart, and then told her to stop. The man took the woman’s wallet and ran away through a field. The woman suffered minor injuries to her neck and head, according to news reports. A Riverside County Sheriff’s Department helicopter and Hemet police officers were unable to locate the assailant. Hemet officers and Wal-Mart authorities reviewed the surveillance camera tape for information and searched the victim’s car for evidence. Authorities are cautioning citizens to secure unattended vehicles and to examine them before entering, police stated.
Crime in Wal-Mart parking lots is a long-standing serious problem for the giant retailer. For past stories on this issue, search this database by “crime.” In both of my books (see home page to order)I have written about the alarming rate of crime that takes place in Wal-Mart parking lots.
