A woman was arrested after allegedly switching UPC codes on merchandise at Wal-Mart at Buffalo Ridge Plaza in The Villages.
Melissa Kay Preston, 33, of Wildwood, entered the store shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday and placed several items in her cart before proceeding to the self-checkout lane, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. She scanned some of the items, but used the incorrect universal produce code to make the items cheaper. The Cadillac, Mich. native failed to scan other merchandise and put it in bags in her shopping cart.
Preston, who has previously been convicted of theft in Marion County, was arrested on a felony charge of theft, due to the previous convictions. She was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center on $2,000 bond.
Preston had been arrested this past May after claiming she had been kidnapped.