Safford police officers were dispatched to Circle K on Thatcher Boulevard on January 4, 2020 in reference to shoplifting. The manager told police that she was reviewing video footage of a shoplifting incident from January 3 involving a man wearing a red polo shirt. The video showed the man conceal several items by placing them down the front of his pants, then leave the store.
The manager said that while preparing the video in her office, she looked up and saw the same man, wearing the same red polo shirt inside the store. The man left the store before she could make contact with him. She went back to her office and reviewed video surveillance that again showed the man conceal merchandise down the front of his pants and leave the store without paying.
The suspect was also implicated in a shoplifting incident at Walmart several days later. An officer at the store was approached by a Walmart asset protection employee who said said that there was a male and female somewhere in the store who had been seen shoplifting. The asset protection employee pointed out the suspect as he walked past the check out registers. The man was carrying a backpack and when he saw the officer, he turned around and went back through the register area and into the store.
He went into the women’s clothing department and abandoned his backpack on the floor, then he turned back toward the front of the store. The officer stopped him in the clothing section but the woman he was with kept walking and left the store.
The man was cited and released in that incident. Charges in the Circle K incident are pending.
