The fate of a woman who while shopping at a Wal-Mart store in Porter Ranch on Thanksgiving night is now in the hands of the Los Angeles city attorney's office.
Los Angeles County prosecutors declined Thursday to file a felony case against the woman, stating that the case failed to meet felony criteria.
The Los Angeles County district attorney's office referred the potential case against Elizabeth Macias, 32, to the Los Angeles city attorney's office, a spokeswoman said. The city attorney hasn't yet said what he plans to do.
The incident made worldwide headlines, with authorities saying soon afterward that the pepper spray was used on a crowd of bargain-seeking shoppers as clerks unwrapped plastic from a shipment of Xbox electronic gaming consoles at about 10 p.m. Thanksgiving night.
About 20 people suffered minor injuries, authorities said.
The suspect went to the Los Angeles Police Department's Devonshire station at 8:30 p.m. the following day and was released after declining to be interviewed, according to police, who did not name the woman.
A charge evaluation worksheet released by the district attorney's office notes that it "does not meet felony criteria" and that the woman has "no record."
"By all accounts the store had timed the release of merchandise and a large crowd was lined up to wait for the merchandise to be released," the document says. "As the unveiling approached, the crowd swarmed and there was pushing and people falling.
"Shoppers began to struggle over merchandise. Store security and employees had lost control of the crowd. It was during this time when the pepper spray was released into the air or at specific shoppers."
—City News Service
