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Volusia County sheriff ’s deputies were dispatched the night of June 7 to a Deltona discount store where shoplifting was occurring. (Yes, another report of shoplifting at a store that sells cheap merchandise!)

A store employee told the deputies she had been preparing to close the store but then noticed a woman “acting suspicious.” The woman was “moving quickly and placing store items into two brown handbags/ purses she was carrying.”

Deputies apprehended the woman in question, a 44-year-old visiting from New York state, and read her her Miranda rights. The woman “advised she was unsure if she mistakenly placed items in her bag and forgot to pay for them.” She said she wouldn’t steal from the store but that she “accidentally took” a keychain.

The Sheriff’s Office report notes, “Upon looking into [Accidental Shoplifter’s sport utility vehicle] through the front driver’s window deputies observed possible stolen items in plain view exposed from the opening of one of the brown bags on the front seat.”

After Accidental Shoplifter was arrested, deputies searched her brown bags and found these items that she’d stolen from the discount store: a box of Crayola Silly Scents Twistables Crayons, a container of women’s deodorant spray, keychain stuffed animals, a coloring book, a bag of Doritos, a snack pack of cookies, and one large cookie. The total value? $21.37.

While searching Accidental Shoplifter’s purse, deputies came across two bottles of prescription medicine and a container that held two different kinds of pills. These included eight 30-mg Adderall pills, a Schedule II medication that can be legally obtained only with a prescription, which Accidental Shoplifter didn’t have. Adderall is used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

Accidental Shoplifter had no criminal history.

She was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of petit theft from a merchant and on a felony narcotics charge.

I’m neither a doctor nor a lawyer, but, when thinking about the defendant in this incident, the word “kleptomania” comes to mind. And psychotherapy and medication can be very helpful in treating that disorder.

— 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.

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