Cops: Air-Freshener Alibi Stinks

A shifty woman trying to pass herself off as someone else was thwarted in a desperate bid to boost air-fresheners she hoped would alleviate the cat stink in her apartment, said.

Instead of improving the odor of her residence, 57-year-old Susan Kerzek has instead been relocated to the , where it hopefully smells less like cats.

Kerzek, of 1215 Boxwood Drive in Mount Prospect, first attracted the attention of Walmart employees when she attempted to return merchandise about 5:30 p.m. Monday.

Kerzek had no receipts for the items, police said, and she was trying to convince employees of the 1401 Route 59 store that she was the same person in the photo identification she was using, which showed not her but a 30-year-old woman.

An employee asked Kerzek to stay put and had security keep an eye on her, police said, but instead of waiting around Kerzerk filled a cart with seven Febreze air-fresheners and made a break for it.

Walmart security tried to stop Kerzek before she got outside but she eluded them, police said. Still, Kerzek's alleged flight for freedom was short-lived, as she was apprehended in the parking lot.

After her capture, Kerzek explained that she took the air-fresheners, which are worth a reported $34.79, because her apartment "smells like cats," police said. She reportedly put the onus for this cat smell on a previous tenant.