A St. Joseph woman is accused of stealing clothes from a department store and driving off in a stolen vehicle and then attempting to do it again.

Shanique Buckner, 24 is charged in Buchanan County with a felony of first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle

According to court documents, on March 10, a day after her birthday Buckner is accused of stealing clothing and shoes from JCPenney.

“The female was not arrested on that date and fled while driving a stolen Nissan,” said Det. Chase Cotter with the St. Joseph Police Department. “Employees observed this same female stealing from their store again on 3/16/17 and were able to detain her for police.”

Det. Cotter said Buckner dropped a key to a Toyota vehicle while struggling to get away.

“Officers located a stolen 2015 Toyota Camry parked a short distance away.  The key the defendant possessed, belonged to that vehicle.  The vehicle had been stolen a few hours earlier from in front of the victim’s house,” Cotter said. “During a mirandized interview with police, the defendant confessed to stealing the vehicle.  The vehicle she stole had damage done to it in the time it was stolen.”

Cotter said the defendant is a suspect in at least five fraudulent uses of credit/debit devices and a suspected in three stolen vehicle cases in less than a month.

“The defendant is a drug abuser who has frequently fled the scene of crimes she has committed.  She has at least three prior arrests for failure to appear in court,” Cotter said.

Buckner is being held on $10,000 bail.  She’s due in court Tuesday for an arraignment.