41-year-old Nekema Mathews was charged with theft and assault after she stole from Outdoors Inc. then threatened to pepper spray and beat the employee’s ass if he touched her purse.
On October 29th, Memphis Police Officer Williams, Motley, and D’Agastaro responded to a shoplifting call at Outdoors Inc. located at 1710 Union Avenue. Upon arrival, employee Adam Wilson advised he noticed Nekema Mathews enter the store with a big brown purse. When she exited, Wilson said he noted her purse was full and security alarms went off, confirming she had stolen merchandise.
He stated Mathews refused to stop and after getting his manager, Andrew King, they followed her out of the store. They witnessed Mathews walk down Monroe Avenue and pull out a can of pepper spray, which she pointed at them and threatened to “beat their white ass”. Wilson and King continued to follow her to 1526 Monroe Ave where Wilson said Mathews threw her purse over a fence and once again threatened to “beat his skinny white ass if he touched her purse”.
According to officers, after they arrived Mathews uttered, “I do not carry a purse” before they said anything to her. Officer Motley searched her and found the pepper spray and a metal security tag remover in her jacket. Three North Face jackets and a Turtlefur hat with Outdoor Inc. tags were recovered from inside her purse.
Nekema Mathews was arrested and charged with theft and assault. She was later released on her own recognizance.
