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MILLCREEK — A Salt Lake woman accused of lighting a Molotov cocktail while she was shoplifting at a discount store now faces 11 different criminal charges.
Rachelle Mary Hawker, 33, was charged Wednesday in 3rd District Court with aggravated arson, aggravated burglary, and three counts of use, transportation or possession of an explosive device, first-degree felonies; theft by receiving stolen property, a second-degree felony; failing to stop for police and two counts of mail theft, third-degree felonies; failing to follow an officer's command to stop, a class A misdemeanor; and shoplifting, a class B misdemeanor.
Hawker walked into Savers, 3171 E. 3300 South, about 11:40 a.m. on April 19 and put together three Molotov cocktails, according to police. She then lit one of them and "used the fire as a diversion to leave the store with several items of merchandise without paying," according to a police affidavit.
Employees were able to put out a small fire in a plastic plant pot before Unified fire crews arrived. Witnesses told police that the woman drove away in a Ford F-150, charging documents state.
Later that day, a South Salt Lake police officer found the same vehicle near 300 East and 2600 South "parked in the middle of the road with the driver's door open." He then saw Hawker running back to the vehicle with a package in her arms that she had just taken from a home, according to the charges.
The officer commanded Hawker to stop, but she replied, "I won't," the charges state. Hawker then sped away, but the officer did not chase her.
The officer received a report a short time later that Hawker was spotted nearby. The officer made contact with Hawker and again ordered her to stop, to which she replied, "No!" and ran off, the charges say.
A backup officer who arrived on scene and recognized Hawker also told her to stop and called her out by name. "This caused Hawker to stop running and come back to the officers," according to the charging documents.
Inside the truck, which was determined to be stolen earlier that morning, police found packages stolen from two residences, the charges allege, and merchandise from Savers with the tags still attached were also found.
Prosecutors noted in the charges that Hawker "has shown a sharp increase in her criminal behavior" in the month leading up to the incident at Savers. They have requested she be held in the Salt Lake County Jail without the possibility of posting bail pending trial.
