Newnan woman caught on camera allegedly plotting major theft at Dillard's

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. - A Newnan woman found herself in trouble with the law when police said security cameras captured her allegedly staging dresses to shoplift at a Dillard’s department store. 

There is something retail stores call "staging" and Newnan police say Dillard’s security alerted them that a woman was allegedly staging up to eight expensive dresses for what they believed was about to be a major theft. 

Newnan detectives said store security had approached 59-year-old Rita Pender to prevent what they believed was about to be a theft. Police say she left the store rapidly before they got there. 

They said she left her smartphone so quickly in the Dillard's dressing room. 

Police say store security turned it over to them. 

They say an hour later Rita Pender returned to Dillard’s. They said she changed clothes, told store employees, and pretended to be her sister, who had left the phone in the dressing room. 

Police said Dillard’s asked them to return the phone and issue Pender a criminal trespass warrant, with instructions never to return and to forget about the shoplifting incident. 

Police said that’s where things went south for Pender, landing her in jail. 

Investigators said Pender had given a false name and that this had led to charges against her. 

They said this also revealed she was wanted in Peachtree City on charges. 

It had also put her on the Newnan Police radar, they said, as a possible suspect in other shoplifting cases at nearby stores. 

As of Thursday morning, Pender was locked up in the Coweta County Jail, awaiting transfer to the Peachtree police.