TEXARKANA, Texas -- A Louisiana woman has been arrested by Texarkana, Texas, police on several charges after an incident with a police officer at ULTA Beauty.
Tramika Scoby, 38, of Preston, Louisiana was arrested on charges of assault on a peace officer, resisting arrest, and theft of property under $2,500 (with two or more previous convictions). She was also arrested on a felony theft warrant out of Gregg County, Texas, according to the Texarkana Texas Police Department.
She is being held in the Bi-State jail. Her bond for the three charges related to this incident total $110,000. No bond was set on the Gregg County warrant.
On Friday Oct.15, Detective Jennifer Billingsley stopped by ULTA Beauty to follow up on a previous theft case she'd been assigned. (ULTA Beauty is located at 3347 Mall Drive, just northeast of Central Mall.)
When she walked in the front door, an employee told her that she believed that a woman was shoplifting in the store at that moment. The employee had allegedly been seen putting items into her purse while walking around the store. After calling for a patrol unit to assist her, Billingsley waited by the front door to give the woman a chance to pay for the items before leaving.
As the suspect, identified as Scoby, was allegedly about to leave without paying for her items, Billingsley identified herself as a police officer and asked Scoby to step to the side so she could speak to her. Scoby allegedly refused and continued toward the door. Billingsley grabbed hold of Scoby's crossbody purse strap to try to keep her from leaving but Scoby allegedly pulled away and lowered her head so the purse would slide off her body.
Scoby was able to drag Billingsley across the parking lot, but the detective refused to let go. Once Scoby got to her truck, she managed to get in and then tried to drive off as Billingsley was fighting to turn off the ignition. To avoid being run over, Billingsley had to stand in the open door of the truck. She was finally able to force the gear shift into park, pull the keys out of the ignition, and toss them from the truck. That's when officers Cole Bredenberg and Brady Cooper arrived and were able to help take Scoby into custody.
Police say Billingsley's hand was injured but her injuries are otherwise minor.
When the officers checked Scoby's purse, they allegedly found $912 worth of perfume and cologne.