Woman arrested for 7th retail theft, $14,000 in outstanding warrants

A quick stop at the grocery store for an off-duty Green Bay police officer led to the arrest of a chronic shoplifter on suspicion of her seventh retail theft offense with outstanding warrants totaling about $14,000.

Police say Donna Ledesma, 55, hit the same grocery store twice within several days.

On Friday, March 17, Green Bay Police were called to a theft at the Pick 'n Save on Main Street. Loss prevention told officers that a woman filled up a cart with food and left the store without paying.

The woman was captured on surveillance footage.

On Monday, March 20, the woman returned to Pick 'n Save and was trying to steal shrimp, steaks and alcohol when Captain John Laux noticed her.

"I don't have one of these photographic memories or anything, but the picture quality was so good that as soon as I walked in, I recognized her," Laux told us.

Lasagna was on the menu for dinner, so Laux thought nothing of grabbing a few things at Pick 'n Save on his way home. He wasn't expecting to pick up an arrest.

"She had a lot of bottles of booze, Bud Light, $30 worth of shrimp, baby back ribs," Laux said.

Laux says Ledseme noticed him watching her and moved to another part of the store. He hid around the corner.

"Sure enough, within two, three minutes she came back and bolted out the door with her cart full of groceries."

He ran after her.

"I told her to stop a couple of times, showed her my badge, and she just kept on pushing the cart and I knew she wasn't going to stop."

After a brief struggle in the parking lot, he detained her.

"I grabbed her by her left wrist. I told her, 'You're not going any place, you have to stop.' At that time, she threw her purse down, wiggled out of her jacket. I grabbed her again."

He asked another customer to call 911. The responding officers took Ledesma into custody.

"She had 11 warrants that totaled over $14,000, and she had $351 worth of groceries, and this was her seventh offense," Laux said.

Ledesma appeared in court Tuesday afternoon, where bond was set at $500 cash. She's ordered not to have any contact with Pick 'n Save stores.