A resident of Oakland Hills and her cohort were arrested for theft after leaving $292 in merchandise unscanned at Walmart.
A loss prevention officer of Walmart, located at 2501 Citrus Blvd., contacted law enforcement about 25-year-old Paige Summer Swain and 48-year-old Laura Louise Heichel around 8:35 a.m. Sunday, according to an arrest report from the Leesburg Police Department.
Security cameras had caught the two bagging unscanned merchandise at the self-checkout counter. When they tried to leave, loss prevention escorted them to their office, the report said.
A review of the footage showed Heichel handed Swain, who lives in the Oakland Hills community in Lady Lake, unscanned items to be bagged. Swain later advised that she knew Heichel was not scanning everything. She thought she was going to pay for the items left unscanned, the report said.
Heichel was then asked why she did not scan everything and if she had enough money on her Food Stamp card. She stated she had enough money in the card all along, and she had “no excuse,” the report said.
A subsequent search of Swain’s purse revealed more merchandise. Adding this to what had already been recovered brought the value of stolen items up to $292.93, the report said.
Swain and Heichel were arrested on charges of retail theft and trespassed from the store. The pair was transported to Lake County Jail and released after posting their respective $1,000 bonds.