RCMP have laid charges after a 74-year-old Wal-Mart greeter was pepper-sprayed in the face at a store in Spruce Grove, Alta. on Tuesday night.

"I think that's terrible, terrible," said Wal-Mart shopper Diane Shepherd when she heard about the incident. "Right in Spruce Grove."

The greeter, an elderly woman, tried stopping two men who were leaving the store with a stolen vehicle battery and a sub-woofer speaker.

"The greeter asked them to see their receipt," said RCMP Cpl. Collette Zazulak. "The one male swore at her and sprayed her in the face with pepper spray."

The men ran outside toward their truck yelling and swearing, she said.

Some people wrote down the licence plate of the men’s getaway vehicle and passed it on to police who quickly tracked the pair down.

"Clearly they weren't happy to be arrested, but they are in custody," Zazulak said.

A 32-year-old man from Calling Lake is charged with assault with a weapon, possession of a weapon dangerous to the public peace and theft under $5,000.

A 24-year-old man from Fort Smith, N.W.T., is charged with theft under $5,000.

The elderly employee has taken a couple of days off but is recovering.