A suspected shoplifter with merchandise stuffed in his shorts was arrested at Costco in The Villages.
A loss prevention employee working at Costco in The Villages was told by one of her staff members that 74-year-old Edward Anthony Orlowski of Plantation asked for scissors to cut the tag off a T-shirt around 12:40 p.m. Tuesday, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
The employee started to watch Orlowski as he picked up numerous T-shirts. He then took off his shirt, put on one of the T-shirts he chose and went into the office section of the store. He stuffed the rest of the T-shirts into his blue denim shorts before approaching the exit, the report said.
As he got closer, he noticed a male Costco worker standing outside and hesitated to walk any further. He eventually tried to sneak around the worker with his shorts visibly padded with $159.27 worth of clothes. He was confronted by the loss prevention employee, and he willingly followed her to her office to wait for law enforcement, the report said.
Orlowski was arrested on charge of petit theft and booked at the Sumter County Detention Center. The New York native was released after posting $500 bond.