A Leesburg woman will have to appear in court to answer for the theft of $177 worth of chargers from Walmart.
Officers responded to Walmart, located at 2501 Citrus Blvd., regarding a shoplifting complaint around 6:55 a.m., March 8, according to a case report from the Leesburg Police Department. Dispatchers advised that 39-year-old Amber Marie Bell stashed items in her purse and did not pay for them. Loss prevention confronted her, but she still left with a white GMC SUV.
Meanwhile, officers with the Fruitland Park Police Department stopped a vehicle matching that description near Olive Avenue and Urick Street. They saw Bell in the driver’s seat, along with several unopened electronics on the floorboard of her vehicle. A subsequent search revealed that some of these items matched the description of items stolen, the report said.
Officers at Walmart then spoke with a loss prevention employee who stated Bell came into the store, walked to the electronics department and picked up multiple things from a shelf. She proceeded to the home goods department and concealed these items in a black purse sitting in her shopping cart. She next walked to the grocery department to continue shopping, the report said.
When she finished, Bell walked to the self-checkout area where she paid only for her grocery items. She subsequently left the store without paying for the $177.43 in concealed items, which included two Belkin phone chargers, two iHome chargers, a Samsung charger and a Belkin wall charger, the report said.
Bell was ultimately issued citations for retail theft and resisting a merchant. She was trespassed from the store and released on her own recognizance. She is due in court on March 25.