Posted Wednesday, March 10, 2010 --- 1:12 p.m.

Incident Report from the Madison Police Department:

On Tuesday night, a Madison Police officer was stopped at the corner of Third and Johnson, filling out reports from a traffic stop when he heard officers being dispatched to a retail theft at the Family Dollar, 1870 E. Washington Ave. A short time later, the officer saw a car blow a stop sign very near to where he was stationed. The officer followed the car, and pulled up behind it as it drove behind an apartment building in the 2100 block of E. Johnson Street. He could see there was brand new merchandise filling the entire passenger compartment of the car: "There was so much ... it was hard to see the entire bodies of the passengers ... it appeared as though they were 'drowning' in the merchandise," the officer wrote in his report. The three suspects (listed below) were connected to being part of a group of up to seven women who had just hit the Family Dollar. Officers were able to fill seven to eight large garbage bags with items stolen from the store, items that had been in the stopped car. In addition, other new merchandise - like two silverware sets - that are not sold at Family Dollar were found in the car. During the arrest process, one of the women tried to run from the scene. She was chased down, and was also arrested for escape. She told the arresting officer how easy it is to return items to stores for gift cards. One of the other suspects had five such cards from different stores, including: Burlington Coat Factory, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Wal-Mart. Two of the women joked during the booking process that they would be out of jail in a day or two.

Arrested:
Precious N. Williams, age 20, Madison
Ms. Williams was arrested for Party To A Crime of Retail Theft, Arterial Stop Violation, Operating a Motor Vehicle with Suspended Registration, and Operating a Motor Vehicle without a License (4th offense).

Demetria C. Fitzpatrick, age 20, Madison
Ms. Fitzpatrick was arrested for Party To A Crime of Retail Theft.

Shaqouia L. Hoffman, age 21, Madison
Ms. Hoffman was arrested for Party To A Crime of Retail Theft, Probation Hold, and Escape.