Couple tracks stolen car to Kroger and shoots accused thief, Kentucky police say

An accused car thief was shot outside a Kroger when the car owners tracked their vehicle across state lines, Kentucky police say.

Police in Fort Mitchell, a Kentucky suburb of Cincinnati, said the shooting happened at the gas station area of a Kroger grocery store Tuesday, Dec. 19.

The couple’s car was stolen around 6 a.m. in Cheviot, Ohio, according to WKRC. A phone was left inside the car, allowing the couple to track where it was traveling.

Then, around 9 a.m., officers were dispatched to the Kroger in Fort Mitchell for a report of a shooting, WKRC reported, citing police dispatch. Fort Mitchell is about 15 miles south of Cheviot.

Police said the vehicle owners confronted the alleged thief outside Kroger, and a woman shot the suspect in the neck.

“The female owner of the vehicle who fired the shot maintains she did so in defense of her boyfriend’s life, as the alleged thief attempted to drive away with her boyfriend who entered the passenger side of the vehicle,” police said in a news release.

The man who was shot tried to flee in the car, but he crashed into a truck parked at the store, police told WXIX.

He was taken to a Cincinnati hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.

Prosecutors will present the investigation to the county’s grand jury. While no arrests were made at this time, police said the shooting was not the “appropriate way” to handle the situation.

“The appropriate response would be to call police and let us handle it,” Fort Mitchell Police Chief Rob Nader said. “No one’s life is worth a Ford Fusion, so let the professionals recover the car to minimize the risk of anyone being injured or killed.”