Serial thief who has history of pepper spraying arrested in Wichita

A 32-year-old Wichita woman previously arrested multiple times for allegedly stealing and pepper-spraying anyone who tries to stop her has been arrested again, according to police.

“That’s kind of her M.O.,” Wichita police spokesperson Trevor Macy said about the pepper-spraying. “She’s been a prolific shoplifter in Wichita for quite some time. She’s well known in the loss prevention community.”

Elizabeth Laura Tisdale was arrested Thursday after police tried to pull her over and she allegedly fled but eventually stopped, the police said. Police were looking for her in connection to a June 10 incident at Lowe’s on Kellogg where she allegedly pepper-sprayed an employee who confronted her for stealing.

She was arrested on suspicion of 31 counts of aggravated robbery, battery, theft of property, failure to appear in court and probation violation.

“It elevates to a robbery when she pepper sprays them because at that point she is using force,” he said.

She has over 200 cases dating back to 1999, Macy said.

An arrest report shows the bulk of her arrest records are tied to 2020 cases. That could be because in 2020, as procedures changed during the pandemic, many tickets that were written to appear in court resulted in defendants that never showed up, Macy said. The ticket would have been the same thing as an arrest during the procedure changes.

She was arrested on Dec. 4, 9, 10, 17 and 27, and again on Jan. 5, he said.

“She gets arrested and she gets out and she starts doing it again,” he said.

She often allegedly pepper sprays people too. Reports involving people who were allegedly pepper-sprayed include:

• June 10: She reportedly pepper-sprayed employees at Lowe’s on east Kellogg.
• June 5: She allegedly pointed pepper-spray at employees at Carter’s, 2441 N. Maize.
• Jan. 5: She reportedly pepper-sprayed employees at Menards, 3250 N. Toben.
• In December, she reportedly pepper-sprayed employees at Home Depot, 3350 N. Woodlawn.

Macy said the only injuries to alleged victims thus far has been “redness from the pepper spray.”

Tisdale has three convictions for theft, two in Butler County and one in Sedgwick County, according to Kansas Department of Corrections records. She has three other Sedgwick County convictions, one for aggravated battery and two for making a false writing.

She’s been absconded from community corrections since April 2020, KDOC records show. She has four disciplinary reports from her time in prison; one is for theft.

She has seven charges of theft, battery and criminal threat in a case filed in March.

This story was originally published June 18, 2021 at 2:09 PM.