A Leesburg man was arrested on a warrant last week for swapping barcodes at Target on merchandise totaling over $650 earlier this year.
At about 11:48 p.m. on July 23, an officer with the Mount Dora Police Department responded to Target, located at 17450 U.S. Hwy. 441, regarding a theft complaint, according to an affidavit of probable cause out of Lake County. On arrival, he met with an asset protection associate who provided two affidavits, one for 30-year-old Melvin Angle, intending to prosecute on behalf of the store.
The first affidavit advised that on June 23, an female suspect accompanied by Angle came into the store at about 1:54 p.m. with no merchandise in hand. She grabbed a cart and proceeded into the hair care section where she selected four Pantene Pro V shampoos valued at $7.49 each. She next went to the wall of vacuums and selected a Bissell Crosswave valued at $269.99, rearranging the items in her cart as she pushed it, the affidavit said.
The female suspect then went into the sporting goods section where she selected a Stanly 50-quart outdoor cooler valued at $225. She headed to the grocery area at about 2:44 p.m., the affidavit said.
The second affidavit advised that on the same day around 3:09 p.m., Angle was seen in the hardware section pushed the cart the female suspect originally had. He placed different barcodes over the vacuum, cooler and a Hedgehog Tails plush valued at $19.99. They both proceeded to the self-checkout at about 3:17 p.m. and scanned the vacuum, cooler, and plush with a handheld scanner, the affidavit said.
The vacuum scanned as Good and Gather garlic powder for $1.19, the cooler as Good and Gather canned chunk chicken for $2.29, and the plush as Good and Gather canned chunk chicken for $1.29. Angle also had two 24oz Old Spice bodywash valued at $7.39, two Old Spice shampoo and conditioner valued at $7.99 each, one 30oz Old Spice Fiji bodywash valued at $9.49, and one 30oz Old Spice shea bodywash valued at $9.49 in the cart that he did not scan, the affidavit said.
At about 3:20 p.m., both Angle and the female suspect left the store, passing all points of sale without trying to pay. They instead walked to the parking lot and got into a white Chevrolet Silverado, the affidavit said.
The total value of the items stolen by Angle and the female suspect was $654.62. However, Angle paid $4.77 for the three items with fraudulent bar codes he placed on these items. This made the total loss for Target $649.85, the affidavit said.
The asset protection associate provided a photo of the Silverado, the tag of which was used to identify the female suspect as the registered owner. A search revealed that incidents involving her and her vehicle frequently involved Angle. Their photos strongly resembled the suspects at Target, the affidavit said.
On Aug. 4, an officer with the MDPD conducted a photo lineup with the asset protection associate. They were read witness instructions and circled Angle’s photo, identifying him as a suspect, the affidavit said.
Angle was ultimately arrested Thursday, Aug. 15, on a warrant for petit theft. He was transported to Lake County Jail and released after posting $500 bond.