Bodycam Video Shows Arrest Of Store Employee Accused Of Robbing Customer In Her 80s

Edmond Police released bodycam video showing the arrest of a store employee accused of robbing a woman in her late 80s in the parking lot, causing the elderly victim to suffer head trauma.

The robbery happened on July 6 outside the Walmart on West Danforth Road, police said.

According to the case report from the Edmond Police Department, an officer looked at surveillance video, which showed the elderly woman entering the Walmart near the pharmacy area, where store employee Latrayia Johnson, 21, greeted her.

The surveillance video showed the elderly woman following Johnson through the store before both women entered a restroom, the case report stated. A few minutes later, both women walked out of the restroom and Johnson continued leading the elderly victim through the store, the case report continued.

The footage showed the two women eventually leaving the store and walking toward the elderly victim's vehicle, the case report said.

Because the victim parked in the far north section of the parking lot, surveillance cameras did not capture the struggle between her and Johnson, said police.

However, when the elderly woman eventually walked back into the store, she had blood all over the front of her shirt, bodycam video showed. She was placed on a stretcher and taken to a hospital, where she was diagnosed with a concussion, police said.

"It's clear to our investigators that this individual targeted this elderly woman," said Emily Ward, public information specialist at the Edmond Police Department.

According to the case report, surveillance video showed Johnson walking back to the store holding the victim's purse. She then allegedly threw the purse into a trash can before going into the building.

In the bodycam video, Johnson told police the elderly woman stole her phone while they were both in the restroom.

"And I'm looking for my phone and then of course it goes off. It's in her purse or her wallet," Johnson said. "I grabbed the purse and grabbed my phone out of her hand, and she fell in the (inaudible) and I'm like, I'm just going to call the police."

But police said Johnson's story didn't add up.

"We were able to see that she did have her phone when she came out of the bathroom," said Ward. 

Specifically, the investigating officer said he saw in the surveillance video that Johnson pulled her phone out of her Walmart vest pocket immediately after leaving the restroom, contradicting Johnson's claim that the elderly woman stole her phone while they were inside the restroom. Johnson also told police that the elderly woman "cussed (her) out" after stealing Johnson's phone. But the surveillance video showed no tension between Johnson and the elderly woman after they left the restroom.

 "We interviewed her a few times and every time, it changed a little bit, some very significant details," Ward added.

Police arrested Johnson on first-degree robbery and aggravated assault and battery charges. In addition, Johnson faces a count of possession of CDS after police said they found nearly 23 grams of marijuana in Johnson's purse.