Police: Shoplifting Suspect Turns Belligerent, Resists Arrest

A simple arrest for shoplifting on Sunday turned physical when a Fountain Inn woman resisted Mauldin Police when they attempted to take her into custody, a police incident report said.

When police arrived to investigate an alleged shoplifting at the Kmart on West Butler Road, officers found 42-year-old Angela M. Cooley of Fountain Inn in the custody of the store's loss prevention officer who "had to put hands on her" to make her sit down, the report said. 

The situation wouldn't get much easier for police.

Cooley, suspected of trying to shoplift a phone charger, then became belligerent with police under questioning, causing her to be placed in handcuffs when she became "loud and physically aggressive," the report said.

Cooley managed to free one hand from her cuffs, causing an officer to grab the cuffs so she couldn't use them as a weapon, the report said. 

The woman actively struggled with police for several minutes before they were finally able to subdue the petite 5 foot 4 inch, 111 pound woman and place her back in custody.

On the way to the police car, Cooley reportedly keep actively resisting. "The whole way out she was yelling and trying to get away from me. I placed her into the back seat of my patrol car and she was still fighting me. I had to place her legs in the car because she refused to do so," the report stated.

In addition to the phone charger, the report also said police found numerous other items from Kmart in her purse — mostly insect and rat repellant, the report said. Police also discovered Cooley's car tag was expired and also charged her for failure to surrender a suspended drivers license.

Cooley remains in the Greenville County Detention Center in lieu of $2,000 bond.