No charges after Elgin woman reports being locked in Walmart freezer
No charges will be filed after a Walmart employee reported two other employees locked her in a freezer, Elgin police said.
Police reviewed video from the incident that took place at about 5:30 a.m. Oct. 29 at the store at 1100 S. Randall Road, Deputy Chief Bill Wolf said. The employee, a 21-year-old woman from Elgin, made the report at the police station later that morning.
The video shows the woman talking to two people, then one of those two people closing the door after the employee entered the freezer, Wolf said. The woman was in the freezer for less than a minute until someone let her out, Wolf said. She initially reported she was trapped for about five minutes.
Police determined that inside the freezer there is an illuminated sign that is visible even when the lights are out and that gives instructions about how to get out, Wolf added.
"We screened it with the state's attorney's office to get their opinion, and they also did not feel it rose to the level of being a criminal offense," he said.
Last week, Walmart spokesman Charles Crowson called the incident "a prank" and said the individual responsible had been fired.
Police attempted to speak with the fired employee, who referred officers to his lawyer, Wolf said. Officers did speak with the second person seen talking to the woman in the video, he said.