A Eustis man was arrested for retail theft after Walmart staff caught him wearing stolen pants and hiding merchandise in bags.
Officers responded to Walmart, located at 2501 Citrus Boulevard, regarding a retail theft in progress inside the store around 2:20 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 4, according to an arrest report from the Leesburg Police Department. Dispatched advised that the store’s loss prevention described a man, later identified as 40-year-old Brian Donell Lemon, in a light blue shirt and blue jeans that belonged to the store. He concealed merchandise in a camouflage backpack and a fishing bag.
Upon arrival, the officers entered the store alongside loss prevention staff and detained Lemon in handcuffs near the pharmacy section. The staff found a fishing bag containing merchandise in an aisle near where he was detained. He had sat the bag down after seeing the officers come into the store, the report said.
Lemon was also wearing a pair of Wrangler blue jeans with the tags removed that belonged to Walmart. Before escorting him to the loss prevention office, the officers searched the camouflage backpack in his possession. Several stolen items were found inside, the report said.
Lemon spontaneously uttered, “Everything in the backpack is mine.” He also made statements that he walked into the store with the backpack containing the items after being released from jail earlier that morning. He was then taken to the loss prevention office, the report said.
While there, loss prevention staff provided the recorded in-store surveillance footage for the officers’ review. Lemon was observed on video selecting a pair of Wrangler men’s blue jeans and putting them on over the clothes already had on. He proceeded to select other articles of clothing, including several pairs of men’s underwear and tank-to shirts, the report said.
In another aisle, Lemon selected two bottles of Dove body wash. He concealed those items into the camouflage backpack he was carrying. He was also observed in the sporting goods section where he selected the aforementioned fishing bag. He continued to conceal multiple items in the fishing bag, the report said.
The total monetary amount of the stolen merchandise, which included the jeans Lemon wore, the items inside his backpack and the fisherman bag with the items he dropped, totaled $401.11, the report said.
During the investigation, an officer read Lemon his rights, and he initially elected to waive those rights. He stated he ripped his pants, a pair of black jeans he had on under the stolen blue jeans, getting off the bus just prior to going to Walmart, and he needed a new pair as a result, the report said.
When asked about the items hidden in his backpack, Lemon made unintelligible statements and shortly thereafter invoked his rights. He chose not to speak any longer regarding the recovered stolen merchandise. However, he did spontaneously utter several times that the fishing bag was not on him when he was detained, so he could not be charged with those items, the report said.
Lemon also stated he did not leave the store with the items, so how did the officers and store staff know he was not going to pay for them? The report noted that he did not have a wallet, cell phone, a substantial amount of cash, debit cards or any other means of payment in his possession. He only had a small amount of various U.S. coins. When asked about his means of paying for the items, he stated someone stole his wallet with no further explanation, the report said.
Dispatch later checked Lemon’s identifying information and found he was previously trespassed from the store. He was issued a trespass warning on July 21 at the request of loss prevention that he signed. This was following a similar incident where Lemon was acting suspicious but not charged with retail theft, the report said.
Lemon was subsequently arrested on charges of petit retail theft (less than $750) and trespass after warning. He was transported to Lake County Jail with bond set at $2,000.