The loss-prevention officer at a DeLand big-box store saw a fellow walking the store’s aisles Aug. 14. It was someone he’d seen shoplift before but had been unable to catch.
On Aug. 14, he saw the guy take something off a store shelf and put it in the pocket of his shorts and keep walking. Store video showed Repeat Shoplifter also pick up and not put back another item in another area of the store.
The loss-prevention officer called law enforcement, and soon a DeLand police officer saw and stopped Repeat Shoplifter, a 34-year-old man, a short distance from the big-box store. The loss-prevention officer was brought to the scene and identified Repeat Shoplifter as the guy he saw picking up and not paying for items a short time before.
When DeLand police searched the suspect, they found a bottle of gummy multivitamins in the pocket of his shorts and “a battery[-]operated nail clipper/ file set with various bits/ attachments” in the front of Repeat Shoplifter’s underpants. At least the fellow wanted to be healthy and well-groomed.
The total value of the two stolen items was $16.11.
A crimina l-history check showed that Repeat Shoplifter had a conviction or guilty plea for petit theft in 2020.
Police arrested him on a misdemeanor charge of petit theft second offense and had him taken to jail.
Seems a shame to lose your freedom for taking such trivial, inexpensive items, but maybe Repeat Shoplifter is homeless and will at least have a bed and three meals a day in lockup — but he won’t have his multivitamins and nail clippers.
— By Keith Allen, based on local police-agency reports. If you have information about a crime, call Crime Stoppers, 1-888- 277-TIPS. You could be eligible for a reward.
