Couple arrested for allegedly robbing Visalia stores with pepper spray

VISALIA, Calif. (KFSN) -- A South Valley couple is in custody Friday weeks after they robbed a Kohl's using pepper spray to get away.

Steven Hawley and Elizabeth Fuller made it as far as the parking lot before being confronted by a Kohl's loss prevention officer. They had been caught stealing merchandise.

"At that point, the female adult suspect pepper sprayed the Kohl's staff and were able to get away at that point," Sgt. Damon Maurice with the Visalia Police Department said.

Thursday night and exactly three weeks later, police say Hawley and Fuller tried to steal more merchandise - this time from Walmart.

They were again confronted by loss prevention, and that's when police say an argument started. Hawley and Fuller ran away before police showed up, but it didn't take long to find them.

And when they did, police say they found drugs and daggers on both suspects. But no stolen items from Walmart. Police then made the connection to the Kohl's robbery.

"We dug up those reports, began looking at similarities. We also had surveillance footage from the Kohl's robbery that helped assist in this case," Maurice said.

We checked with the criminal division of Tulare County's Superior Court and found out Fuller had an outstanding warrant for a 2015 drug case. Hawley also has a relatively recent drug case in which he's scheduled to appear in court on October 3.

Hawley and Fuller have their first court appearance for this case on Monday. Their bail is set at $60,000.