Mom tries karate on cops, son strips naked, dog nabs muffin mix in bizarre Walmart incident

Adam Frisk GlobalNews.ca

April 15, 2019 12:49 pm

Mom tries karate on cops, son strips naked, dog nabs muffin mix in bizarre Walmart incident — Benny Vann and Lisa Smith were arrested by Eau Claire Police at a Walmart last week.
Eau Claire Police

A bizarre string of events unfolded in a Wisconsin Walmart, involving a woman trashing store displays before performing karate moves in the parking lot, while her grown son stripped naked at the back of the store and the family dog made off with some cornbread muffin mix.

According to Eau Claire police, officers were called to a Walmart on Wednesday evening for an alleged retail theft in progress. Upon arrival at the store, officers located Lisa Smith, 46, who was yelling and screaming at the store’s entrance, trying to locate her dog, Bo.

Police said the woman had entered the store with the unleashed dog before Smith “erratically started pulling apart store displays and placing them in her cart.”

At that point, the woman was asked by staff to leave the store, where she promptly decided to perform some karate moves in the parking lot, police said.

While the woman was channelling Mr. Miyagi outside, Bo snagged a box of Jiffy Cornbread Muffin Mix and tried to hightail it out of the store, according to police.

Police allege that’s when Smith was arrested, but not before fighting with officers and trying to “kick out a window on the squad car.”

Meanwhile, back inside the Walmart, police said Smith’s son, Benny Vann, 26, went to the back of the store and stripped completely naked, exposing himself to shoppers. Police said the man then decided to grab some clothing from the racks, which he allegedly didn’t pay for. Officers approached Vann, but he refused to stop and “attempted to run over an officer with his scooter.”

“Officers physically stopped the scooter and arrested Vann,” police said in a statement.

Police said the woman was arrested for disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and misdemeanour bail jumping. Her son was nabbed for lewd and lascivious behavior, disorderly conduct and retail theft.

As for the dog?

“Bo was caught by officers in the store and brought to the Humane Association,” police said. “The dog was not charged – we issued him a warning for the theft.”

The officers will undoubtedly remember this day at work for a long time to come.