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Crime & Safety

Mall Malice: Police Say Angry Woman Scrawls Insults on Bathroom Wall Then Shouts at Muslim Shopper

Joliet woman is charged with disorderly conduct after loud mall escapade and complaints from store management.

A Joliet woman was accused of verbally harassing a Muslim women and writing anti-Muslim graffiti on a bathroom stall inside an department store on March 24.

Luana L. Merle, 51, of the 10-100 block of Independence Drive in Joliet, was charged with disorderly conduct. Police said she let out a shriek when she saw a Muslim woman walking her way in Kohl's around 2 p.m. and then began shouting insults, at times coming within inches of the woman’s face.

Merle called the woman a “terrorist” and told her to go back to her own country, police said. The woman claimed she hadn’t initiated conversation with Merle but when provoked responded, “You can’t do anything about it. I’m in the store now.”

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Police arrived minutes later and confronted Merle as she came out of the Kohl's bathroom. The store’s management, after examining the bathroom, told police fresh graffiti was found on a stall door which stated “Islamic’s are devil worshippers” and several illegible words which weren't there earlier in the day.

Police noted Merle, when questioned, shot several threatening glances in the direction of the Muslim woman. Merle was described in the report as "agitated" throughout the interview, shouting profanity in front of her children, police and other mall shoppers.

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