MURFREESBORO, TN - While this may be hard to believe, there has been yet another shoplifting call at your neighborhood Walmart store. This one unfolded about ten days ago on Old Fort Parkway. Arriving Murfreesboro Police officers were advised by loss prevention that a man entered the store, hand-selected two men’s shirts — undoubtedly made out of the finest material — and then selected two 3-piece multi-purpose scrubbers before walking towards the front door to exit.
Between the selection of merchandise and the front entrance of the store, the 24-year-old managed to cleverly conceal the shirts and scrubbers. However, the police report did not specify how this concealment occurred. Shortly after passing all points of purchase — without so much as raising his wallet — he wandered into the store’s puzzle of a parking lot. He then began searching for the fire engine red Toyota he had arrived in. After finding the awaiting pickup, he drove away. But before he could get far, authorities managed to sniff out the man’s license plate.
Like a hound dog on the trail of a scent, police soon had a hefty piece of the puzzle in their hands: the license plate... Records produced the name of the rightful owner of the truck — in this case, the suspect’s mother. With lots of questions in mind, police called mom and learned the suspect’s full name and she even gave them his personal cell number.
Police called the subject to discuss the stolen shirts and scrubbers. During that conversation, he evidently told law enforcement where they could find him. Without further ado, police headed out to meet the man and retrieve the stolen merchandise. All seemed to go well with the retrieval process, which is good for the suspect.
Later, once police had the fine clothing in their possession — along with the scrubbers — they transported the items back to the big-box retail giant. Once inside the sea of value, officers once again met with the loss prevention worker, who is quickly becoming a central character in many of our stories on shoplifting.
The worker, filled with grit and a knack for spotting those who utilize the five-finger discount method of shopping, told police they wanted the man trespassed from all Walmart stores for the next 24 hours. Unless the retailer has a facial recognition system that’s activated as customers enter, it would be hard to keep one shopper out of all stores for 24 hours — or any length of time for that matter. Walmart operates more than 10,000 stores around the globe, with more than 4,600 in the United States alone — not to mention Sam’s Club storefronts, with at least 600 in operation today.
In addition to the suspect being told to take a break from Walmart for the next 24 hours, the store’s theft prevention worker said they’d be attempting to obtain a warrant naming the suspect. The officer on the scene then called the suspect to inform him that Walmart would pursue criminal charges in the $61 case.
At this point, a warrant has not been filed.
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