WINONA, Minn. – A security agent at Walmart reported finding stolen merchandise stashed outside the store among packaged woodchips. The agent told police the merchandise likely was part of the loot that a shoplifter took last week but discarded as a clerk was chasing her into the parking lot. Arrested in a police stop shortly after the theft was Carly Frances Polak, 22, of LaCrosse She had $2,100 of Walmart goods in the car. Also she had dropped another $1,100 on the ground in the parking lot in her haste to get away. Walmart said it was assessing the value of the later-discvered woodchip cache.
