A Wildwood woman was arrested for her helping steal almost $500 worth of items from Save A Lot and lying to police about her identity.
An officer responded to Save A Lot, located at 1415 S. 14th Street, regarding a retail theft in progress around noon Saturday, according to an arrest report from the Leesburg Police Department.
Upon arrival, the officer met with the store manager who advised a woman, later identified as 23-year-old Cormoni Danay Solomon, and an unknown man ran east behind the establishment after walking out with a bag and shopping cart full of merchandise. The store manager tried to stop the two suspects by grabbing the shopping cart as they struggled to keep it. They ultimately left it behind and fled the premises with the bag full of merchandise, the report said.
Several officers responded to the residential neighborhood behind the store in an effort to find the suspects. One of the officers spotted Solomon, who matched the description given by the store manager, in the 1500 block of South Pointe Drive and detained her for investigation. She provided a name and date of birth, later found to be false, which revealed she had an outstanding warrant out of Sumter County, the report said.
One of the officers went back to Save A Lot and asked the store manager to sit in the back of his patrol vehicle to conduct a show up to obtain a positive identification from him of the female suspect detained. Once the show up was done and the manager confirmed Solomon to be the suspect, she was placed under arrest, the report said.
A sworn written statement was received from the manager and another employee advising of the interaction and merchandise stolen, which totaled $493.03. The manager was issued a victim’s rights pamphlet, and he initialed next to “yes” with intent to prosecute, the report said.
While Solomon was in transport to the LPD for the booking process, she admitted the name and date of birth was wrong and actually her sister’s information. She gave the right name, resulting in an active warrant out of Sumter County, the report said.
Solomon was subsequently charged with retail theft (petit, less than $750), false ID to law enforcement officer (arrest or lawfully detained) and retail theft (resists merchant). She was transported to Lake County Jail with bond set at $3,000.
