Arrest made after false return of vacuum

A 57-year-old woman was arrested this weekend when she reportedly tried to exchange an unpurchased vacuum cleaner for cash inside the Fairchild Air Force Base Exchange.

Store security watched Shirley L. Schmidt enter with nothing. She selected a Dyson vacuum cleaner and then attempted to exchange it for a $369 cash refund using an old receipt from an earlier vacuum purchase, Spokane County sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan said in a press release.

Employees detained Schmidt until Deputy Mark Brownell could arrive at the store, the release said. He interviewed Schmidt and learned that she planned on spending the ill-gotten refund on Christmas dinner, Reagan said.

Brownell arrested Schmidt on suspicion of second-degree theft and booked her into the Spokane County Jail on the felony, Reagan said.