A Portland woman accused of threatening a loss-prevention officer with a handgun while shoplifting items from a Vancouver Fred Meyer made a first appearance Friday in Clark County Superior Court.
Danyielle L. Cunningham, 38, appeared on a warrant for first-degree robbery and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm stemming from the June 17 incident.
Vancouver police were called for a brandishing at Fred Meyer, 2500 Columbia House Blvd., and learned that a loss-prevention employee, Bryan Edmiston, had tried to stop a shoplifter who then displayed a handgun, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
The woman, later identified by police as Cunningham, loaded up merchandise in her cart and walked out of the store without paying. As Edmiston approached her, she told him, “You need to back up,” while showing him a firearm. “You need to back up or you’re going to get hurt,” she said, according to the affidavit.
Edmiston said he backed off and watched the woman load the stolen items into a vehicle with Oregon license plates. She then drove off. The woman made off with food, shoes and a fishing reel, totaling $166.74, court records state.
Police ran the license plate and found that the vehicle was registered to Cunningham. Then, on June 25, Portland police contacted her in a different car and seized items thought to have been stolen from the Vancouver Fred Meyer. Cunningham was arrested on an unrelated offense, according to court documents.
During a search of the car involved in the robbery, detectives found a black Smith & Wesson 9 mm handgun and learned it was stolen during a vehicle prowl in Portland. The handgun matched the description Edmiston gave police. Detectives also recovered some of the stolen store merchandise, the affidavit says.
On Friday, Judge Robert Lewis set Cunningham’s bail at $50,000 in the robbery case. She will be arraigned Sept. 12.
