Police: Mother left young child at Costco after stealing electronics

POCATELLO — A woman was arrested Thursday evening after police say she used her child as a “diversionary tactic” to steal electronics from Costco.

Lakiesha Dawn Flores, 27, was arrested on burglary and injury to child charges.

Pocatello Police were called to Costco on Quinn Rd. around 5:20 p.m. after receiving a report that a theft suspect had left her child at the store.

Officers spoke with employees who said they had tried to stop the woman at she left the store with electronics equipment that had not been purchased, according to a police report.

The suspect, later identified as Flores, left in a vehicle without her child, who police say is between 5-10 years old, and later returned to Costco.

“It was learned that she told her juvenile child to contact store employees and tell them that the child was lost as a diversionary tactic,” the police report states.

Flores was booked into the Bannock County Jail and is expected to appear in court Friday afternoon. Police are not releasing details about what happened to the child after the incident.