Police say a woman shoplifts in Port St. Lucie while man snorts drugs in the car with kids

PORT ST. LUCIE — A woman accused of stealing from a Walmart Supercenter and a man accused of snorting drugs in a car with two children in the backseat were arrested Monday, according to affidavits released Tuesday.

Erica Faith Kamm-Cohen, 26, was arrested on charges including grand theft, resist officer/obstruct without violence and possession and/or use of drug equipment in connection with the incidents at a Walmart in the 10800 block of South U.S. 1.

Ralph Michael Walther, also 26, of the 2600 block of Southeast Clareton Terrace in Port St. Lucie, was arrested on a child neglect charge.

Port St. Lucie police went to the Walmart about 4 p.m. and met with a store official. Kamm-Cohen, of the 800 block of Southwest Koler Avenue in Port St. Lucie, also was there.

The Walmart official said he watched Kamm-Cohen in the electronics department "acting suspiciously." The Walmart official saw her move through several aisles, selecting more than $900 worth of merchandise and leaving without paying. He detained Kamm-Cohen until police arrived.

The Walmart official also found Kamm-Cohen's vehicle in the parking lot. He used security cameras and saw a man in the passenger seat and two children in the back. The man, later identified as Walther, appeared to be using drugs.

Walther later told police he'd rolled a $1 bill into a tube and inhaled some oxycodone. He also said the vehicle, a Kia, belonged to his mother and that Kamm-Cohen drove them to Walmart. Walther said he didn't know what Kamm-Cohen was doing in Walmart.

Police learned the two girls in the back seat were Kamm-Cohen's daughters.

Asked why she tried to take things from Walmart, Kamm-Cohen said she planned to sell the items for money. Police found aluminum foil with burn marks and other things in Kamm-Cohen's purse that she said she uses to smoke oxycodone, a powerful painkiller.

Kamm-Cohen's mother took custody of the two girls, while Walther's mother got the vehicle.