An area women convicted for stealing more than $750 in merchandise from the Walmart and Target stores in Austin last winter was sentenced Friday in Mower County Court.

Kelsey Kay Ball, 20, of Manchester, Minn., was sentenced to three years’ supervised probation and 80 hours community service for possessing shoplifting gear, a felony.

According to a court complaint, Ball and another woman, Amanda Kraay, were detained by loss prevention staff at Walmart on Dec. 18, 2011. However, because of store policy, staff could not hold the women because Kraay reportedly presented a box cutter as a weapon. However, when police arrived, Kraay, who was in the parking lot at the time, reportedly complied with officers and told them where to find the box cutter.

The women told officers they had been dropped off at Walmart, according to a court complaint, but video surveillance showed they had came by themselves in a car. The complaint said police found many unpackaged CDs and DVDs in the vehicle, as well as an Xbox 360 Kinect.

When police questioned the women, Kraay said the theft was not planned, but she admitted to bringing the box cutter so Walmart security could not detain her.

Ball told officers she and Kraay stole the items and intended to sell them at Game Stop. She said they took the Xbox 360 Kinect from Target earlier in the day, according to the court complaint. Ball also said Kraay opened the packaging for the stolen items with the box cutter.

Kraay, 21, of Blooming Prairie, was convicted of possession of shoplifting gear, a felony, last month. She was sentenced to three years’ supervised probation.