Shoplifting suspect found hiding in trunk, drenched in Mountain Dew

CLAYTON, N.C. -- Hiding in the trunk, covered in Mountain Dew, and then taken into custody.

Not her best day.

The trouble for 34-year-old Melinda Reeves, of Wilson, started May 21 when store loss-prevention personnel at the Walmart in Clayton thought they saw her put unpaid-for merchandise in her purse instead of her shopping cart. When staffers approached her, she became confrontational and ran out of the store, the Joco Report said.

When Clayton police officers, they were told by Walmart personnel that no cars had left the parking lot in the area where the woman was seen running.

Officers searched vehicles but did not see anyone inside any of them.

But then they took a quick look at video surveillance and were able to pinpoint the exact vehicle the shoplifting suspect arrived in. Officers went back to the parking lot and found the car.

No one was inside the car, but an officer noticed that the trunk lid was ajar.

The officer asked the person inside to come out and the woman appeared, drenched in sweat and Mountain Dew, which she said she poured on herself to try to stay cool in the sweltering heat of the trunk.

Officers found a bottle of wine, a package of laundry detergent and a small Little Mermaid children's toy -- totaling $16.83 that had reportedly been stolen.

Reeves was charged with shoplifting/misdemeanor larceny and formally trespassed from all Walmart properties.

She was taken to the Johnston County Jail and later released on a $2,500 secured bond.