Shoplifting investigation leads to 3 arrests, seizure of firearm, cocaine

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – An investigation of two recent shoplifting incidents lead to three people in custody and the recovery of a firearm and cocaine, according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

Police say that officers were looking into two shoplifting occurrences – one at a shoe store in the 4600 block of Lafayette Road and the other at a beauty supply store in the 5100 block of West 38th Street – on Saturday, April 6 at approximately 4:45 p.m.

During their investigation, officers learned that the suspect from both shoplifting incidents was spotted in a white Chevy Impala.

An officer then spotted a vehicle matching that description in the area of Moller Road and Pike Plaza Road. It was then stopped in the 5300 block of Pike Plaza Road. All three females in the vehicle – 22-year-old Marilisha Lewis, 20-year-old Lakia Foster and 23-year-old Stormie Payne – were detained. All three women were identified as suspects in the shoplifting incidents, according to IMPD.

Police say that during a subsequent search of the vehicle a handgun and a small amount of cocaine were recovered.

They were all transported to the Marion County Jail. 

Lewis faces two preliminary charges of shoplifting and one each for possession of narcotics and possession of a firearm.

Both Payne and Foster face two preliminary charges of shoplifting.