A Leesburg woman was arrested last week on a warrant charging her with theft at a Winn-Dixie store in Leesburg.
The warrant alleges that on July 8, 41-year-old Melissa Gordon was observed leaving the Winn-Dixie by the store manager without paying for a cart full of groceries. The manager observed Gordon loading the groceries into a SUV. He took a photo of the vehicle and went back into the store and called the police. Officers found the SUV parked across a couple of parking places in an area of the parking lot different from where the manager had observed Gordon with the groceries.
A woman approached the officers and told them that the SUV was hers and that Gordon had asked her for a ride to the Winn-Dixie. Since she also needed to get groceries, she took Gordon with her to the store. She told the officers that Gordon asked her for the keys to the vehicle so Gordon could put her groceries in the SUV while the owner finished her shopping.
The officers were unable to locate Gordon that day so the case was turned over to Leesburg police detectives. When taken into custody Tuesday her record showed multiple shoplifting convictions so the charges were upgraded to a felony.
She was booked at the Lake County Jail on $2,000 bond.
