What began as a reported shoplifting Tuesday after a shopper ate a popsicle in the frozen section of a Lawrence Dillons escalated to a foot chase when another shopper later tried to elude police.

According to Sgt. Trent McKinley, a Lawrence Police Department spokesman, police contacted the two after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Dillons, 3000 West Sixth St. Police issued a 20-year-old woman a notice to appear in court for theft of several boxes of a drink mix and for eating a popsicle out of a box in the frozen food section and returning the open box back in the freezer.

“Other than the popsicle,” McKinley said, “the stolen items were recovered.”

But McKinley said the 20-year-old wasn’t helpful in assisting police to identify the 16-year-old who was with her. After officers could not identify the 16-year-old on their own, the girl fled while being questioned near the store’s entrance.

McKinley said the girl was captured near Sixth and Schwarz after a brief chase on foot, and police later determined that she was a runaway. She was taken into custody for theft, interference with the duties of an officer and for being a runaway, McKinley said.