A 24-year-old Ceres woman was arrested on shoplifting and vandalism charges during an alleged theft at WSS Shoes on Hatch Road Tuesday evening, June 2.

Two females, including Angelica Velasquez, 24, of Ceres, had entered the store before 6:23 p.m. A loss prevention agent took notice of the two women wandering around the kid’s section of the store acting suspicious and looking around to see if anyone was watching. The agent said the unidentified female put down a black handbag on a bench in one of the isles. Velasquez then selected a box of kid’s Nike shoes, took them out of the box and dropped the shoes in the handbag. Velasquez then placed the empty box on the shelf.

Velasquez was stopped by a clerk as the women tried leaving the store. Velasquez claimed she purchased the shoes at a different store and brought them into WSS believing she could exchange them for a different size. But Velasquez was unable to produce a receipt for them.

As Velasquez was talking to the loss prevention agent, the other woman got into a vehicle and left. As the loss prevention agent attempted to snap a photo of the license plate with his cell phone, Velasquez grabbed it and threw it to the ground, breaking it.

Officer Shane Baptista responded to the report of theft and watched the store surveillance video, which confirmed the shoplifting.

Police did not say if the other woman had been identified.