Police said they arrested a Ridgefield man and a West Hartford woman on robbery, larceny, and assault charges following a shoplifting incident on the night of Tuesday, February 27, at the Big Y supermarket at Newtown Shopping Village at 6 Queen Street.

Police received a call from the store about 6:18 pm informing them that an assault had occurred there. On their arrival, police learned that a male store security staff member had approached Allison Napolitano, 27, and she then attempted to leave the store with "cases of Red Bull stuffed in an oversized purse," police said. The energy drink is frequently a shoplifting target.

While speaking to Napolitano, the security man was pushed from behind by Mitchell Carroll, 25, who was attempting to aid Napolitano, police said. The security staff member received a wrist injury in the incident, police said. Napolitano and Carroll then entered a vehicle that was parked in the store's fire lane and fled the area, police said.

Newtown police alerted alerted other area police departments of the fleeing vehicle. State police stopped the vehicle in question in Waterbury.

A search of that vehicle turned up some used syringes and drug paraphernalia that is consistent with intravenous heroin use, Newtown police said.

Newtown police transported the pair from Waterbury to the Newtown police station, where they arrested each person on charges of second-degree robbery, third-degree assault, and sixth-degree larceny. The robbery charge is a felony.

Police said each person was held on $5,000 bail in the police lockup for arraignment on the charges on Wednesday in Connecticut Superior Court in Danbury.