John Jefferson
Inset: Maria Gritsaev (Flagler County Sheriff’s Office). Background: A Dollar General in Palm Coast, Fla. (Google Maps).
A Florida woman is behind bars for stealing from a Dollar General and attacking a pregnant woman, Sunshine State authorities say.
Maria Gritsaev, 34, stands accused of one count each of aggravated battery on a pregnant victim and petit theft by shoplifting, according to Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Jail records.
The incident occurred in early January, according to investigators. The defendant was arrested on Thursday.
On Jan. 2, deputies asked the public for help identifying the suspect. Law enforcement said the incident occurred at a store on Market Avenue at around 10:30 a.m. that day in Palm Coast – a medium-sized city roughly 30 miles north of Daytona Beach.
The suspect is said to have been a white woman who appeared to be in her late 40s. She was wearing a light-colored hat and scarf at the time. Police also noted she had long blonde hair – which authorities surmised might have been a wig. The wanted woman allegedly left the scene of the crime riding a silver mountain bike.
Law enforcement shared a blurry photograph of the alleged culprit seen from above when making their plea for citizen engagement. And, in the end, it was such engagement that moved the case forward.
“Here’s proof that just because the photo is bad doesn’t mean we can’t overcome it,” the sheriff’s office said in an Instagram post after an arrest was made. The post goes on to credit the defendant’s arrest to “an eagle-eyed social media user.”
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Speaking with law enforcement, the Dollar General employee said she is eight months pregnant and that Gritsaev “stole a lighter and pushed her,” according to a charging affidavit obtained by Law&Crime. The defendant allegedly frequents the store, the employee added.
“[The store employee] stated that the female (suspect) did not have enough money to purchase the lighter, which costs approximately $2.00,” the court document reads. “[The employee] advised that when the suspect attempted to walk out of the store with the lighter without paying for it, she stood in front of her. [The employee] advised that the suspect then grabbed her and then pushed her out of the way.”
The defendant for her part, admitted to being in the store that day but denied what happened with the lighter.
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“Maria advised she was at the Dollar General and paid for the lighter,” the affidavit goes on. “Maria advised that a female employee [redacted] stood in front of her at the entrance. Maria further advised that she did not push anyone. Maria further advised that she was able to leave the store after getting around the female employee [redacted] and left the area because she did not want to be involved in any confrontation.”
Law & Crime contacted the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office for additional details on this story, but no response was immediately forthcoming at the time of publication.
The defendant is being detained in the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility on a combined $6,000 bond.
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