SAFFORD – Monday afternoon, police arrived at Walmart in reference to a shoplifter. According to the Asset Protection employee, the woman in custody has been seen on multiple occasions enter the store with a large black bag that was empty and leave with the bag full. They just never had surveillance or sight of her taking anything. This day was a little different. Walmart staff had alerted the asset employee of the woman in the jewelry area. When the employee saw her, they watched the woman go into the bathroom for a short period of time. The woman then came out and went straight over to the grocery section of the store. The asset employee watched as the woman placed several items into the black bag. (The items would come to a total of $16.23) The woman then walked across Walmart and attempted to leave through the Automotive section where she was then stopped by the asset employee.
After police listened to the story relayed by the employee, the woman was asked if it was accurate and she agreed it was. The woman told authorities she had $20 with her and she just wanted to save money. The woman reported, she did not walk into Walmart intending to steal, she had decided to do it while in the store. She denied taking anything else, but when officers looked inside her black bag for additional contraband, they found a Betty Boop watch along with multiple tags that could possibly be from previous thefts.
The woman denied taking anything else and said her daughter had given the watch to her as well as the watch she was wearing as a gift about two weeks prior. The Asset Protection Manager scanned the barcode on the Betty Boop watch container and the system read that they hadn’t sold any of those watches in 5 weeks. The officer was informed that they had attempted to get surveillance of her taking the watches but was unable to, due to the line of sight where the cameras are located. The watch and container were photographed in the event later evidence of the woman stealing them could be obtained.
The woman was warned of being trespassed from Walmart if she was caught stealing again. She was cited and released for shoplifting.
