Woman Accused of Pretending to Be a Police Officer After Strange Encounter at Publix

A suspicious shopping incident at a Publix in Palm Beach County turned into a more serious criminal investigation after store employees said a woman not only tried to leave with bags of merchandise, but also claimed to be connected to a sheriff’s office during the confrontation.

According to the bodycam footage channel TraceLine Report, the case began one morning at a Publix on Lake Worth Road, where employees called 911 after noticing a woman acting suspiciously inside the store with several bags of items. What first appeared to be a routine shoplifting call became more complicated after staff told deputies the woman identified herself as a sheriff’s officer.

The channel’s host said detectives later reviewed surveillance footage, employee statements, and a 911 recording before tracking down the woman more than a month later. By then, the case was no longer just about groceries, reusable bags, and store policy.

It also involved an allegation that she had impersonated a law enforcement officer.

Publix Employees Say The Woman Drew Attention Inside The Store

In the footage, a Publix manager told deputies that employees first became concerned after seeing a woman loading large amounts of merchandise into reusable bags and moving through the store in a way that raised suspicion.

The manager said the woman took large Hallmark bags from the store and began filling them with health and beauty items, then hid one of the bags behind a Hallmark rack on aisle 11. Employees continued watching her as she moved through other areas, including the bakery, frozen foods, and detergent aisles.

According to the manager’s statement, staff saw her placing products into bags and carts, including cleaning products, kitchen towels, candles, mops, brooms, groceries, and other items.

When the manager approached and asked whether she needed help, the woman became upset, the manager said.

“I offered to ring up the whole cart of groceries she had to get her started,” the manager told investigators, explaining that she tried to frame the contact as customer service rather than an accusation.

The manager said the woman asked why she was being approached and told her she wanted to be treated like everyone else.

The Manager Says The Woman Passed The Registers

The encounter escalated when the woman allegedly pushed her cart through an empty register lane and passed the points of sale without paying.

The manager told deputies that she and customer service managers were standing near the front end when the woman tried to push past them with product. The woman insisted the items were hers and claimed she had brought them into the store, but the manager said surveillance footage showed her entering with nothing.

“So you guys saw her loading up items into the cart, into these bags,” a deputy asked during the official statement, summarizing the store’s account.

The manager agreed, saying the woman went through an empty register where no clerk was working, passed the points of sale, and attempted to exit.

In the earlier bodycam footage, the manager said the woman had three reusable bags full of products and claimed she had already paid for them. The manager said staff removed the bags from the cart before the woman left the store empty-handed.

That detail matters because many shoplifting cases turn on whether a person actually leaves with unpaid merchandise, but store policies and theft laws can also focus on passing all points of sale or taking steps that show intent. In this case, the store’s staff believed the woman had already gone far enough to call law enforcement.

A Claim About Being With A Sheriff’s Office Changes The Case

The most unusual part of the report came from what employees said the woman told them during the confrontation.

The manager said the woman argued with staff while leaving and claimed she was a Broward County Sheriff’s officer. In one early statement, there was some confusion over whether the woman had said Palm Beach or Broward, but the manager later clarified that the woman claimed Broward.

“She did not display any badges,” the manager told deputies.

However, the manager said the woman gave a badge number while the manager was speaking with the 911 operator. The operator heard her, according to the store’s account.

The manager told detectives the woman was wearing black clothing, a lot of gold jewelry, a Louis Vuitton fanny pack, and a large Louis Vuitton purse, then left in a blue Mercedes with temporary tags.

The store estimated that the woman had gathered roughly $1,300 worth of products at first, though later in the investigation detectives told her the calculated amount was more than $1,600.

This is where the story becomes more than a suspected retail theft incident. Claiming to be law enforcement, if investigators believe that is what happened, can turn an already serious accusation into a separate allegation with its own consequences.

Detectives Follow Up More Than A Month Later

TraceLine Report said detectives continued investigating after the initial Publix call, using the surveillance footage, witness statements, and the 911 call to identify and locate the woman connected to the incident.

When detectives eventually found her, one investigator identified himself as Detective Vah with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and explained that he needed to speak with her about an incident from February 3.

Before asking questions, he read her rights and told her she could decide whether to speak with him.

The woman, identified in the footage as Yasmin, acknowledged remembering an encounter at Publix, but she denied presenting herself as a deputy, police officer, or detective.

“I’m nowhere near none of that,” she told the detective.

Detective Vah said the 911 recording showed a different version of events. He told her the manager had said “Palm Beach,” and that Yasmin corrected her by saying “Broward” before providing an identification number.

“I don’t even know how ID number goes in there,” Yasmin said, denying that she remembered giving one.

The detective pressed the issue, saying the audio captured her saying she was Broward and giving an ID number. He also said there were three witnesses who told investigators the same thing.

The Woman Says She Felt Harassed

When the detective asked why she had been shopping that way, Yasmin said her intention was to get the manager to leave her alone because she felt she was being harassed.

“My intentions were for her to leave me alone,” she said.

She also told the detective she left the items at the front and did not take anything. When asked why she passed all points of sale with the carts, she said it happened while she was trying to get something she did not need, then decided to leave everything because she wanted to return home to her children.

Yasmin also told the detective she was still going through chemotherapy and had been trying to get to an appointment.

Detective Vah told her he was sorry for her illness and hoped she got better, but he also said she still had to go to jail because of the warrant and the new allegation.

That moment in the footage is uncomfortable because it shows two things at once: a suspect offering personal context that may explain her state of mind, and a detective explaining that the investigation had already produced enough evidence for an arrest. Both can be true in the same case, which is often what makes these bodycam encounters feel more complicated than a simple headline suggests.

Charges Are Explained After The Arrest

Detective Vah told Yasmin she was being arrested on a Palm Beach County warrant for attempted grand theft. He said the amount calculated from the carts was over $1,600.

He also told her she was being charged with impersonating a police officer because investigators had her on an audio line.

“But I’ve never found a police officer,” Yasmin said, appearing to deny the allegation.

“Well, you did on audio,” the detective replied, explaining again that investigators believed she had corrected the 911 caller from Palm Beach to Broward and provided an ID number.

The detective told her the local police department would take her to jail and that she had a no-bond warrant at that moment, though a judge could later review bond after questions about identity, residency, and flight risk were addressed.

The TraceLine Report host closed by saying the Publix incident ended with the woman being arrested on a Palm Beach County warrant for attempted grand theft and impersonating a police officer. The host also reminded viewers that all charges remain allegations unless proven in court.

The case shows how quickly a retail theft investigation can widen when employees claim a suspect used authority she did not have to push back against store staff. A dispute that began with bags of groceries and store surveillance became a broader case built around witness statements, a 911 recording, and the question of whether a claim about being a sheriff’s officer was made in the middle of the confrontation.