A Safford police officer was dispatched to Walmart at approximately 7:15 pm on Monday, November 5, in response to possible fraud. Upon arrival, the officer was shown video footage of a white or Hispanic woman with bleach blond hair walking into the store with a bag full of items. The woman went to the customer service counter to the return the items.
The customer service associate asked the woman for a receipt for the merchandise and the woman said that she had to get it out of her vehicle. The woman left the merchandise at the customer service counter and walked out of the store. She got into a dark colored SUV and drove away. She never came back with a receipt. The items she was attempting to return totaled $251.91.
Walmart’s asset protection associate told authorities that they could not find any video footage of the woman taking the items from the store. The identity of the woman is not known.
On Thursday, authorities responded to Walmart regarding a man who had allegedly had his wallet stolen. When police arrived, the man told them that he and his wife and son had gone to the store at approximately 10:30 pm. The man was wearing shorts with no pockets, so he was holding his wallet and keys. They did some grocery shopping, then went to the sporting goods section. When they went to check out the man realized that he didn’t have his wallet. He immediately retraced his steps but did not find the wallet.
The officer met with an asset protection associate and watched video footage that showed the family enter the store. In the sporting goods section, the man left his wallet on the counter. At approximately 10:52 pm three male subjects walked up to the counter. One of them – a man wearing blue jeans, a red shirt, and a black hat – picked up the wallet and showed it to the other two men. The man then placed the wallet in his back pocket and went to the restrooms by the electronic section. The man then met back up with the other two and left the store. The group drove away in a silver SUV.
The officer checked the restroom but did not find the wallet. The victim was shown pictures of the three men. He said that he had asked the other two men if they had seen the wallet, but they responded that they had not. The victim said that he saw the man in the red shirt but didn’t talk to him.
The victim was advised that he should cancel his credit cards that were taken with the wallet.
On Friday, authorities were called to Walmart at about 10:00 pm in regard to an intoxicated native American woman who was allegedly trying to conceal items. Asset protection associates began tracking the woman when she tried to hide strawberries in her coat. The concealment strategy failed and the strawberries dropped to the floor.
When an officer arrived, he met with the asset protection associate by the liquor aisle. The associate pointed out the suspect at the other end of the aisle. As the officer approached the woman she started to jog away. When the officer caught up to her, she tried ignoring him. The officer placed the woman in handcuffs and escorted her to the asset protection office in Walmart.
When authorities searched the woman, identified as Lynn Miller, they found an open pocket knife, two CDs, a Discman and an unopened makeup container. The only thing they could prove was stolen was the makeup. However, Miller had two warrants out of Gila Valley Consolidated Court for shoplifting and criminal trespass from Walmart. She also had prior fraud charges from Walmart.
Miller was booked into the Graham County Jail on the outstanding warrants.
