Police suspect shoplifting suspects are part of a theft ring with ties to Louisville

EDINBURGH, Ind. (WDRB) -- Police say in the last two days, seven women — five from Louisville — have been arrested in what's believed to be a shoplifting ring.

"Five people from Louisville, Kentucky coming to Edinburgh, 80 miles away and they're stealing all at the same time,” said Doyne Little, chief of the Edinburgh Police Department. “There's a good chance that they're connected."

One of them took police on a three-county chase Wednesday. Indiana State Police said Ta’neasha Chappell, 23, was suspected of shoplifting from the Polo Ralph Lauren store at the Premium Outlet Mall in Edinburgh. But she was locked out of her getaway car.

"She rips her license plate off the back to try to prevent that identity and then realized she's locked out of her own car,” Little said. “So, she had to bust her own window out at the outlet mall to get into her car."

Once inside the car, Chappell headed to Interstate 65 South and led ISP troopers on a high-speed chase before crashing into a ditch near Exit 7 — the State Road 60 exit — from southbound I-65 at Hamburg in Clark County, Indiana.

"From my understanding, in talking to Indiana State Police, she got out, fled on foot, fought and ended up being tasered by a surrounding agency," Little said.

Premium Outlet Mall in Edinburgh, Indiana.

Little heard the call but was working another shoplifting case from the same outlet. That’s why he was surprised when he watched the chase go by.

"That this can't be happening, that they're going to come right by the same police agency that just arrested their friends," he said

Police said the investigation started Tuesday when officers responded to a disturbance call at the same outlet. Police said the suspects in that case were Leosha Morris and Shayvonne Rickets of Louisville.

“That investigation led to a theft investigation, and we found them to have stolen property in their vehicle from approximately five different stores at the Edinburgh Outlet Mall," Little said.

In addition to Chappell, Morris and Rickets, police also arrested Da’Miya Tooley and Haamiya Kamose of Louisville and recovered a large amount of stolen merchandise.

”It was over $14,000 worth stolen items recovered by the Edinburgh Police Department," Little said.