A Leesburg man wanted for the theft of $18 of food from Walmart was arrested last week with crack and a makeshift pipe.
An officer responded to Walmart, located at 2501 Citrus Blvd., regarding retail theft around 6:35 p.m. April 5, according to an arrest report from the Leesburg Police Department. A loss prevention employee advised that 63-year-old Freddie Smith left the store with unpaid items.
The employee stated he had actually been in the store the night before and skip scanned multiple things. He got everything back from Smith and let him go with a warning, deciding not to call law enforcement. However, when he saw Smith again that day, he scanned a card that only partially paid for the transaction, the report said.
Smith stared at the screen, then left without paying the rest, resulting in a fully cancelled transaction. The employee tried to stop him again, only to be waved off as he got into the passenger seat of a white Chevrolet truck and left toward Fruitland Park. He had stolen $18.56 worth of Hellman’s squeeze bottle mayonnaise, Great Value Neapolitan ice cream sandwiches, Great Value mini vanilla ice cream sandwiches and Great Value mustard, the report said.
Officers later spotted Smith riding his bike near Beecher Street and Waitman Avenue on the evening of April 8. They had probable cause for his arrest, so they detained him and searched his person. This revealed a small black container with 0.5 grams of crack in his right pant pocket. That same pocket also had a suspected makeshift crack pipe with residue, the report said.
Smith was arrested on charges of retail theft, resist merchant, possession of crack and drug paraphernalia. The Mississippi native was booked at the Lake County Jail and released after posting $5,000.