Woman Charged in Walmart Bleach Assault in Lansdowne, MD

Police have charged a Baltimore Highlands woman in a fight in which officials say she used bleach and other household cleaners against another woman at a Walmart in Lansdowne Saturday, Oct. 8. Several shoppers were ovecome by fumes and taken to medical facilities.

Theresa Monique Jefferson, 33, of the 2900 block of Lakebrook Circle was charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault, theft under $100 and malicious destruction of property.

According to Baltimore County police, Jefferson followed another woman, who has not been identified, into the Walmart store in the 3600 block of Washington Boulevard.

Baltimore County police said that Jefferson has a child fathered by the other woman's boyfriend.

Jefferson and the woman fought inside the store, police said. According to police, Jefferson poured bleach and Pine-Sol on the victim. Police responded to a report of a fight at 10:48 a.m.

Jefferson left the Walmart, went to Precinct 1/Wilkens and turned herself in, police said. She was arrested and held at Baltimore County Detention Center on $350,000 bail.

Fire/EMS Response

According to Baltimore County Fire Department, a call was received at 10:58 a.m. for a person with an eye injury at Walmart.

The victim of Jefferson's assault was transported for treatment at Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins medical center, officials said.

"The initial response was for an eye injury," a fire department spokesperson told Patch. "Everything escalated to a hazmat incident."

As the store's ventilation system spread vapors from the spilled liquids, "other customers were being overcome by the fumes," the spokesperson said.

Initial reports indicated that the liquids involved bleach and ammonia, which can create extremely toxic fumes. According to a message thread on the debunking site Snopes, Pine Sol does not contain ammonia. However, bleach fumes alone can irritate an airway.

One Walmart customer said in an that she was shopping with her two children about 10 minutes after the incident.

"Everyone was still shopping and we didn't smell anything," she . "We were in there for half an hour and heading to the checkout when all of a sudden the employees started running around telling people to evacuate."

Fifteeen other people were affected by fumes and were transported to local hospitals, according to fire department officials. Ten medic units and a hazardous materials team responded to the scene.

The Walmart was emptied for about two hours while a hazmat team cleaned up the spilled liquid and ventilated the store. The store reopened around 1 p.m., according to officials.

A preliminary hearing for Jefferson is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Nov. 4 in District Court in Towson.