A Leesburg man was arrested for retail theft after leaving a Walmart with a cart full of stolen Twisted Tea, Mike’s Hard Lemonade and Jack Daniels.
Police responded to Walmart, located at 2501 Citrus Boulevard, in reference to a retail theft at about 3:57 p.m. Friday, according to an arrest report from the Leesburg Police Department.
The asset protection associate advised that a man, later identified as 20-year-old Cameron Angelo Linardos, pushed a cart of alcohol out of the store without paying. The associate also provided a tag which rendered results for a gray Chrysler four-door vehicle, the report said.
An officer was able to find the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop in a grassy lot within Leesburg. Another officer arrived on scene and was able to match a description of the suspect to Linardos, who was then detained while he spoke with law enforcement, the report said.
Linardos admitted to leaving the store with alcohol, the report said. He advised the alcohol was paid for, but he selected “no receipt” upon completion of the transaction. He later changed his statement to say he was with a friend who paid for the alcohol. He claimed to have left the store while his friend was paying. He further stated he could not purchase alcohol because he was not 21 years old.
During the course of the investigation, it was determined that Linardos walked to the alcohol section of Walmart, selected multiple cases of various alcohol brands, placed them in a shopping cart and proceeded to the grocery side self-checkout. He passed all points of sale and made no attempts to pay for the items. The asset protection associate attempted to stop him, but he continued to walk out to his vehicle with the merchandise and left the property southbound, the report said.
Video surveillance confirmed that Linardos’ statements were not accurate. He stole two cases of Twisted Tea valued at $36.96, four cases of Mike’s Hard Lemonade valued at $67.92 and one case of Jack Daniels valued at $7.98. The total value of all stolen merchandise was $112.86, the report said.
Linardos was subsequently arrested on charge of petit retail theft. He was transported to the Lake County Jail and released after posting $500 bond.
