Walmart mom faces charges again in North Huntingdon
Alysa Kelly, 25, says incident is misunderstanding
NORTH HUNTINGDON, Pa. —
A young mother who was already facing charges for allegedly leaving her toddler in her car while she shopped at Walmart is now suspected of going into the same store with her child and stealing merchandise, police say.
Surveillance video shows Alysa Kelly, 25, of West Newton, in the parking lot of the North Huntingdon Walmart on Nov. 24, holding her daughter in one arm and a bag in the other.
Police said in a criminal complaint that she was trying to throw T-shirts under a parked car when she was confronted by a security guard.
Kelly watched the surveillance footage with Pittsburgh's Action News 4 and said that the video depicts something else.
"I was carrying her around the parking lot trying to find my car and I dropped my bags, my diaper bag and everything else. I put her blanket and everything else back in the bag," Kelly said. "I didn't have any clothes. That doesn't show I stuffed anything under the car. You can see right before that, I dropped the bag and had to pick it up."
Kelly had been spotted putting four DVDs and three shirts under her purse in her shopping cart while she was in the store, and then walking past the registers without paying for those items, according to the complaint.
Kelly said her daughter grabbed the DVDs and put them in the cart, unbeknownst to her.
"She just grabbed a whole handful of them and put them in the buggy," Kelly said. "I had no reason to steal $10 in DVDs. It was an honest mistake. Because of what happened there a few weeks earlier, the guy and women there weren't trying to hear any of it. I even offered to pay for that."
Kelly said her daughter played with the DVDs while Kelly activated and paid for a new cellphone that cost more than $300. Kelly said she never touched any clothes inside the store. Loss prevention officers told police Kelly was caught on surveillance cameras putting the items in her cart.
"Loss prevention told us it was all on video, that the items she had taken, she put underneath her purse in the shopping cart," said North Huntington Police Sgt. David Sage.
Police said video also shows Kelly -- whose driver's license they say is under a DUI-related suspension -- driving out of the Walmart lot with her child, despite police allegedly telling her to not drive the vehicle because its tires were bald and her license was suspended.
"It's been extremely humiliating to me. I'm a single mom to both of my children. I have an 8-year-old as well. I'm not a bad mom. I don't do things like that," Kelly said.
Kelly said she is confident the charges will be dismissed at their preliminary hearings. She said she is also considering filing a lawsuit against Walmart.
Walmart management did not return requests for comment.
Employees at the Westmoreland County Children's Bureau, who were notified by police in both incidents, said they cannot confirm or deny if they are working with specific families.
The toddler is still in Kelly's care.