A Davenport man was arrested for theft after attempting to steal $38 in chicken and batteries from Walmart.
A deputy responded to Walmart, located at 550 U.S. Hwy. 27, Clermont, for a theft involving 40-year-old Nicholas Maurice Carey around 6:10 p.m. Monday, April 20, according to an arrest report from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
As loss prevention staff called to report the incident, deputies were pulling into the parking lot to check the property. The staff stated over the phone that Carey was not being cooperative and refused to stop when told. He was then stopped by deputies and detained, the report said.
The staff advised that another male wearing a blue sweatshirt had the cart with the stolen items and continued into the parking lot. One of the deputies found this person, Carey’s son, and detained him, although the shopping cart was empty, the report said.
Carey and his son were then taken to the loss prevention office, where the deputies were shown surveillance footage of what happened. Carey arrived at the self-checkout and started scanning items. He scanned several things first and bagged them, putting them in the cart with the unscanned items. This bag was placed over a package of chicken to conceal it, the report said.
He repeated this process for another package of chicken and a multipack of batteries, which were never scanned. He proceeded to complete the transaction and walked out of the store with $38.06 worth of stolen merchandise. The staff tried to stop him, but he did not listen and continued out to the parking lot, the report said.
Carey was arrested on charge of retail theft while his wife picked up their son. The Texas native was booked at the South Lake District Office and released after posting $500 bond.