Race Day Live (Flagler County, FL) – A Florida woman has been arrested for stealing from a Dollar General and beating a pregnant woman, according to investigators.
Maria Gritsaev, 34, is charged with one count of aggravated violence on a pregnant victim and one count of petit theft by shoplifting, according to Flagler County Sheriff’s Office jail records.
The assault took place in early January, according to investigators. The defendant was apprehended on Thursday.
On January 2, authorities urged the public for help in identifying the culprit. According to law officials, the event occurred at a store on Market Avenue in Palm Coast, a medium-sized city about 30 miles north of Daytona Beach.
The suspect was described as a white woman in her late forties. She wore a light-colored cap and scarf at the moment. Police also noticed she had long blonde hair, which they suspected was a fake. The desired woman allegedly fled the site of the incident on a silver mountain bike.
When pleading for community interaction, law officials shared a hazy photograph of the alleged offender taken from above. Finally, such engagement helped to move the case ahead.
“Here’s proof that just because the photo is bad doesn’t mean we can’t overcome it,” the Sheriff’s Office said in an Instagram post after an arrest was made. The post goes on to credit the defendant’s arrest to “an eagle-eyed social media user.”
According to a charging affidavit , the Dollar General employee told officers she was eight months pregnant and that Gritsaev “stole a lighter and pushed her.” According to the employee, the defendant visits the store on a regular basis.
“[The store employee] stated that the female (suspect) did not have enough money to purchase the lighter, which costs approximately $2.00,” the court document reads. “[The employee] advised that when the suspect attempted to walk out of the store with the lighter without paying for it, she stood in front of her. [The employee] advised that the suspect then grabbed her and then pushed her out of the way.”
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The defendant, for her part, agreed to being in the store that day but denied the incident with the lighter.
“Maria advised she was at the Dollar General and paid for the lighter,” the affidavit goes on. “Maria advised that a female employee [redacted] stood in front of her at the entrance. Maria further advised that she did not push anyone. Maria further advised that she was able to leave the store after getting around the female employee [redacted] and left the area because she did not want to be involved in any confrontation.”
The defendant is being held at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility on a combined $6,000 bond.
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