She's not Lucy Lawless but she is a Lawless—and she is a “Princess Warrior” of sorts, who doesn't believe in lawlessness. A Texas woman singlehandedly stops Walmart robbers by jumping on the hood of a getaway car when no one other customers bother helping. She says "Our country needs to stand up and do something"--and the mother of two boys is willing to live up to that ideal.
One Walmart Supercenter shopper is sick of crime -- and willing to make good on actually upholding that ideal. She's a 42-year-old mother who's so tired of thievery, she jumped on the car of three alleged thieves in a Texas parking lot after being fed up with crime.
The Alvin incident got captured on Walmart video: "I had to do something," the shopper-turned-crime stopper, says Monique Lawless. "It just infuriated me."
Monique Lawless, a 42-year-old mom with two sons, was standing in the checkout line of a Walmart in Texas on a lazy Sunday when she witnessed three guys head into the Walmart for beer -- then out of the store, avoiding any checkstand.
Lawless immediately told a sales clerk about the men who had stolen the Bud Light from the Alvin, Texas, Supercenter and successfully ripped off beer, even with a a multitude of customers witnessing the incident. "They [the alleged Walmart thieves] knew they could walk into the [Walmart] store and get the Bud Light and just walk out," says Lawless. "They were so smug, it just enraged me."
Walmart greeters may not count on stopping robbers as part of those store duties on the checklist, but a "greeter" who was alerted by the clerk, amazingly, made a good attempt in trying to detain the two men -- but they got loose and joined a third guy, who was driving a getaway car.
At just over five feet tall, the slight, 125-pound Monique Lawless had had enough: She apparently decided Walmart customers were to be trusted, dropping her purse at checkout and choosing to tail the Bud Light thieves. Lawless meant to write down the robbers' license plate number, mistakenly believing another Walmart customer or two might step in to help out (i.e., men) -- but that didn't happen. No men, or any other customers, for that matter, stepped up to assist. "They all just got on their cell phones to call 911," says Lawless.
Lawless was unaware of the theory that battles common sense: The proven theory that the more people who are in the vicinity or witnesses to a crime, the less of a chance someone may help. New York City woman Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death near her home in Queens -- 45 years ago -- in what later became known as the "bystander effect" or "Genovese syndrome". In the murder of Kitty Genovese, the stabbed woman had cried and actually alerted multiple neighbors -- all of whom assumed the cries and need for assistance would be answered by someone else. The simple shout, of "leave that girl alone", made by just one neighbor stopped the physical attack on Genovese. But what seems to be a lack of bravery and the assumption would do something, resulted in the death of Kitty Genovese. Her attacker got in his vehicle after being yelled at -- but then circled the neighborhood and actually returned to kill Genovese, despite the fact at least a dozen people were present.
The "bystander effect" results in instances where individuals don't offer help in an emergency situation when other people are present. The probability of help has in the past been thought to be inversely related to the number of bystanders: The thought is that the greater the number of bystanders or witnesses present, the less likely anyone will help. The simple presence of other people is believed to greatly decrease any chance for intervention by just one person -- allowing people to ignore responsibility in taking action.
Apparently the robbers weren't that quick, physically or mentally. And it seems thieves aren't that trustworthy -- of others. The Walmart robbers had a hard time getting into their Chevrolet Camaro to make a getaway: It seems one of the geniuses had chosen to lock the car. That's when Lawless spotted what she thought was the only chance to jump in and stop the beer thieves in their (tire) tracks.
Walmart video footage of the Texas store's parking lot area shows Lawless launch herself directly onto the getaway car's hood, where she pounds on the Chevy's windshield.
"They [the alleged Walmart thieves] were getting in the vehicle and leaving and I was thinking if I could just get on the car that would stop them," Lawless told the media and "Good Day America". "I figured a sane person wouldn't drive off with someone on top of their car."
The getaway driver started the car in the Texas Walmart parking lot, causing to Lawless slide down the Chevy's roof. But she held onto the driver's door handle -- causing her to be dragged along the tarmac before finally releasing the car's handle.
"They [the alleged robbers] were laughing at me the whole time inside the car," says Lawless. "They couldn't care less."
Perhaps they were making another beer run: The three alleged Walmart robbers were eventually stopped by police after an hour-long chase -- caught by law enforcement at another Walmart store in Pearland, Texas.
And perhaps it is all in the genes: The three alleged thieves have more in common than a shared robbery scene -- they're brothers. Twin brothers Sylvester Andre Thompson and Durlentren Sylvester Thompson, age 21, and a third brother, Sylvester Primitivo Thompson, age 19, were nabbed on felony charges related to evading arrest and aggravated robbery.
Perhaps the geniuses thought being identical twins might help their case -- in making a positive id problem related to any witness identifying whom actually stole the beer. On the flipside, seeing the same thing twice -- even simultaneously -- can make things a bit more memorable for witnesses.
Lawless' sons say are proud of their mom, a woman they say is known to take action -- citing the fact their mom calls 911 emergency, or stops to help if she sees a car accident or anyone in need.
Despite a bruised nose and two black eyes suffered in the Walmart parking lot scramble, the mother says hopes her actions at her local Walmart will inspire others to stand up or take action. "Our country needs to stand up and do something," says Monique Lawless. "We need to be able to walk through our Walmart without worrying that someone is going to take something from us. We need to say, 'We're not going to take this anymore.'"