A 35-year-old Leesburg man with a long criminal rap sheet was arrested after he reportedly tried to swap price tags on items in the self-checkout lane at Walmart.
Jonathan Patrick Lucas, of 1597 N. Lake View Ave., was charged with second-degree petit theft (third or subsequent offense) after the incident, which happened Sunday night at the Leesburg Walmart, 2501 Citrus Blvd.
Lake County Jail records show it’s the 10th arrest in five years for Lucas, who spent more than a month behind bars at the start of 2022 for domestic battery. Other prior charges include possession of methamphetamine and paraphernalia, grand theft of a vehicle, possession of meth with intent to distribute, trespassing, burglary, resisting without violence, possession of cocaine, and multiple thefts.
In his latest brush with the law, Lucas was observed on a store surveillance camera tearing the original price tag off a pair of shorts valued at $22.48 and scanning a tag from another pair of shorts valued at $6.98. A security employee at the store then saw Lucas take the tag off a bundle of men’s socks valued at $12.48 and scan a price tag from socks valued at $2.97, according to the Leesburg Police report.
The store employee stopped Lucas after he passed all points of sale and was leaving the store. Lucas said he would pay the original prices for the items he took, but the employee told him that was not acceptable and called police, the report said.
Lucas was processed at the Leesburg Police Department and taken to the Lake County Jail, where he’s being held on $2,000 bond. Lucas is scheduled to appear in Lake County Court on July 5.
