Kerry McKinney
A Chattanooga man is charged with helping two women try to steal over $3,000 worth of perfume from a business in East Ridge.
Police received a call about a theft in progress on Saturday night on Ringgold Road, and were told two female suspects in the cosmetic section were grabbing merchandise. One was described as a black female in a white jacket, and another wearing an orange hat. When police got there, they said they saw two people matching the description in the parking lot.
Police said the suspects were running around to the back of a Kia Soul and were throwing what looked like merchandise into the back of the car. Police pulled behind the vehicle, but did not block it from escaping completely. Police said the suspect’s car began to back up “at an aggressive pace” and hit the police car.
Officers got out and told the driver to stop the vehicle, which she did not do. After she tried to back up again, police pulled out their firearms, and police said the driver stopped and put the vehicle in park. The two women were identified as Lateefah Johnson and Vanessa Woodard, and a man in the back was identified as Kerry McKinney.
Police contacted the store manager, who said the female suspects asked an employee to see the perfume, and then they removed some of the perfume and put it in a shopping cart. He said they tried to leave the store without paying, and he asked for them to pay for the merchandise.
The manager said McKinney hit him in the face. He said he saw police pulling into the parking lot after that. Police said McKinney told police he did not know who the women were, and just thought the manager was bothering them. But police said Ms. Woodard told them McKinney was her boyfriend and that he arrived at the location with them.
When police returned 35 bottles of perfume to the store, they found the combined retail value of the bottles were $3,667.19.
McKinney, 33, of 1004 W. 37th St., Chattanooga, is charged with robbery, theft over $2,500, and assault.