An elderly woman who allegedly rammed a Walmart employee with a shopping cart in Darien has been identified by police, but the case stalled after the victim stopped cooperating.
The incident occurred at the Walmart at 2189 75th St. around 8:30 a.m., according to a police report obtained by Patch through a public records request. Patch reported the incident date as Aug. 11, while a Darien Police Department press release dated Oct. 15 listed a matching battery report under Oct. 11.
The suspect yelled at the employee to clean up a candle the woman had dropped in the dairy aisle, police said. Video footage captured a 50-second confrontation in which the woman rammed the worker with her cart, according to the report. The employee shoved her away, and the suspect then grabbed and held onto the worker.
A second employee broke up the altercation. The suspect fled to the parking lot.
Officers who responded found the victim uncooperative. She blamed her co-workers for not helping her stop the woman and told police she wanted to leave because she had places to be, according to the report.
The next day, the employee called police and said she wanted to press charges. She reported that the suspect had injured her finger and knuckles, police said.
Darien police then used the city's Flock license plate-reading cameras to obtain the suspect's plate number and identify her. The cameras, which have drawn debate at Darien City Council meetings over privacy concerns, gave investigators a tool they otherwise would not have had.
But when police contacted the victim again, she said she had not decided whether to sign a complaint. She told officers she would call back when she made up her mind.
She did not.
No charges have been filed. The suspect has not been publicly named by police.
