An 18-year-old woman from Wabasha is facing criminal charges after a Bloomington police officer working overtime at a Walmart found a loaded, unholstered Glock 23 handgun tucked in her waistband during a theft stop in July. Nadia Shirlene Smith now faces charges of carrying a pistol without a permit in a public place and theft of movable property without consent, according to court records.
The incident unfolded around 11:18 a.m. on July 24, when a loss prevention specialist alerted the officer to suspected under-ringing at a self-checkout register, according to MN Crime. The officer and the loss prevention specialist stopped Smith as she exited the store, and she was detained and handcuffed without incident. Court records indicate Smith had passed all points of sale without paying for all of her items, and the recovered merchandise was later returned to the store.
Officer Spots Magazine Sticking Out of Waistband
During a search after Smith had been detained, the officer reportedly saw a handgun magazine sticking out from her front waistband. He then retrieved a Glock 23 handgun that was not in a holster and had a loaded extended magazine inserted. The officer ejected the magazine, racked the slide, and a round ejected from the chamber before the gun and ammunition were inventoried as evidence.
Smith was identified by her Minnesota ID card, and the firearm was not reported stolen at the time of recovery, according to the same account. She had no permit to carry a firearm and, per the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, state law sets 21 as the minimum age to obtain a carry permit, with sheriffs instructed not to issue permits to 18-to-20-year-olds while related legal challenges played out in federal court. At age 18, Smith could not obtain a Minnesota permit to carry a pistol, but the statute includes an exception for peace officers, so the evidence does not establish that she was barred from carrying a pistol under every possible circumstance.
What the Charges Could Mean
Under Minnesota Statute § 624.714 Subdivision 1a, carrying a pistol in public without a valid permit is a gross misdemeanor for a first offense, according to FindLaw. Theft penalties, meanwhile, scale with the dollar value taken under the state's general theft statute, § 609.52: theft of property worth more than $500 is a gross misdemeanor, and theft exceeding $1,000 becomes a five-year felony. The exact value of the merchandise Smith allegedly under-rang has not been detailed in court records reviewed so far.
The Glock 23 recovered from Smith's waistband is a compact .40 S&W semi-automatic pistol that Glock says carries a standard factory capacity of 13 rounds. Minnesota law places no statutory cap on magazine capacity, and proposed legislation to limit magazine size has not been enacted, according to the Rifle Configurator database of state firearm regulations. The available information does not establish the magazine's legality or the precise basis of the criminal charge.
Overtime Officer, Familiar Retail Pattern
The Bloomington officer involved was working overtime at the Walmart. Under-ringing, or intentionally scanning cheaper items or skip-scanning merchandise at self-checkout, is a shoplifting tactic that corporate loss prevention teams actively monitor through video surveillance, as detailed by Jack Rice Defense.
Smith is from Wabasha, a Mississippi River town of about 2,500 people in Wabasha County. Court records indicate she had no prior criminal history at the time the complaint was filed.
Case Heads to Hennepin County Court
Charges were filed September 3 in Hennepin County District Court. The Hennepin County Attorney's Office handles felony and gross misdemeanor prosecutions across Minneapolis and 45 surrounding cities, including Bloomington, and the case falls under the Fourth Judicial District, according to the Minnesota Judicial Branch. Hennepin County remains the state's most populous jurisdiction, and felony arraignments and trials in cases like this one are held at the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis.
The account does not discuss tracing the Glock 23's origin, given that it was not reported stolen when recovered. The case involves the same statute cited above. It also references other Bloomington Walmart-linked investigations without detailing them.
