A Leesburg woman will appear in court next week for the attempted theft of $107 in merchandise at Walmart.
An officer responded to Walmart, located at 2501 Citrus Blvd., for a retail theft involving 21-year-old Malak Archer around 6:50 p.m. Monday, Nov. 24, according to a case report from the Leesburg Police Department. A loss prevention associate advised that he had her detained in his office for allegedly concealing merchandise and “skip-scanning” items.
Archer initially identified herself with a false name and date of birth. She was very uncooperative and unwilling to speak or answer any questions. She also paused for unnaturally long periods when identifying herself and did not make direct eye contact, the report said.
The officer explained to her that she was being detained under reasonable suspicion of a crime, and she had to identify herself or face more charges. Only then did she give her real information, but she continued to give vague answers about the crime. She often deflected questions or did not answer them directly. She admitted no knowledge of not paying for everything she picked up and denied stealing or trying to steal anything, the report said.
Even so, surveillance footage showed Archer in the toy department with a black backpack in the front compartment of her cart. She walked through several aisles before returning to the toy department to pick up items off the shelf and put them in the backpack. She then walked to the cleaning products sections to repeat her actions, the report said.
She continued through the store, selecting more merchandise, until she made her way to the self-checkout registers. She scanned items inside her cart but not all of them, paying for the rest and leaving through the grocery department. The associate stopped her as she left the store and brought her to the loss prevention office, the report said.
In total, Archer concealed and “skip-scanned” 21 items worth $107.14. These included a 20-piece flatware set, two foil pans, several food items, Combat Max Roach Gel, Dove dry spray, Airwick products and Dawn Platinum dish soap. She later tried to return the items she had just bought at the customer service desk but left the business without doing so, the report said.
Archer was issued a misdemeanor citation for retail theft and a trespass warning, which she refused to sign. The native of Jamaica is responsible for appearing in court on Dec. 10.