2nd woman sentenced for Walmart theft

Published 10:42 am Wednesday, January 18, 2012

A Rochester women convicted of stealing more than $2,000 of electronics from Walmart in July was sentenced to probation Tuesday in Mower County District Court.

Beth Marie Hansen, 26, was ordered to serve 10 years probation in lieu of a 25-month prison sentence. She was convicted of five criminal charges: fifth-degree drug possession, theft, fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle, fourth-degree assault and DWI under the influence of a controlled substance.

According to a court complaint, Hansen and Natasha Duellman, 34, left Walmart around 3:30 a.m. Saturday, July 30, without paying for more than $2,000 of electronics items, including a flat-screen TV.

Email newsletter signup

Officers attempted to pull over the women until their SUV eventually hit spike strips laid on the road by a Mower County Sheriff’s deputy. The strips punctured the right, front tire of the vehicle, but the suspects continued down the 2700 block of West Oakland Avenue at 80 mph, according to a court complaint.

The chase went through town, with the women eventually driving over a curb and into a large field near Fourth Street SE, according to court documents.

Police seized the missing electronics from the vehicle. They also found a digital scale, a methamphetamine pipe, a vial testing positive for cocaine and two containers with marijuana residue, the court complaint states.

Duellman has been sentenced to five years supervised probation for the incident.