A man accused of stealing from the Leesburg Walmart back in May was arrested when he returned to the store last week.
Travis Christopher Snell, 23, of Umatilla, was charged with retail petit theft (one prior conviction) and retail theft by resisting a merchant. He was previously convicted of theft in July 2018.
On May 29, Leesburg police officers responded to the store, located at 2501 Citrus Blvd., and spoke with a security employee, who said he saw a white male – later identified as Snell – in the sporting goods department removing items from a box. The employee said Snell then went to the toy department and placed 19 other items into the emptied box, according to the police report.
The employee said Snell went to the self-checkout register and scanned the box but did not scan the items inside the box. Snell then left the store, passing all points of sale. The employee said when he tried to stop Snell and speak with him, Snell ran away, got into a Jeep and drove southbound out of the parking lot. The Walmart employee was able to get the tag number of the Jeep, the report said.
An officer was able to identify the suspect as Snell by running the tag number through a computer search. The security employee prepared a list of the items not paid for by Snell, which had a total value of $457.01. The employee also provided security footage of the theft and Snell leaving the store, as well a clear still photo of his license plate, according to the report.
At around 6 p.m. Friday, the security employee saw Snell inside the store and called police. Snell was arrested and taken to the Lake County Jail, where he’s being held on $10,500 bond. He will appear in Lake County Court on July 27.
