An 18-year-old Detroit man with what prosecutors say is a coast-to-coast shoplifting history was arrested yesterday in the parking lot of a North Huntingdon Walmart, after employees reported an attempted fraudulent self-checkout. Authorities have identified the suspect as Andrew Reed and say the bust is the latest chapter in an alleged retail-theft spree tied to nearly 100 Walmart incidents nationwide. Reed has since been arraigned on related charges.
Arrest At North Huntingdon Walmart
North Huntingdon police were called to the Mills Drive Walmart when an employee reported a theft in progress. Store staff stopped the customer before he could leave, accusing him of trying to walk out with more than $2,100 in unpaid merchandise.
Officers met him in the parking lot, identified him as Reed, and took him into custody on Thursday. According to CBS Pittsburgh, the confrontation followed a self-checkout transaction that was flagged as suspicious and the subsequent discovery of active warrants.
Alleged Cross-Country Pattern
Prosecutors say this was not a one-off shoplifting case. “Reed was responsible for 97 separate incidents in Walmart’s loss prevention database, totaling more than $146,000,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement, according to CBS Pittsburgh.
North Huntingdon police told investigators that Reed had already been trespassed indefinitely from Walmart locations in Indiana, Florida, and Arkansas. Prosecutors say he was arraigned on counts that include retail theft, theft by deception, criminal use of a communication facility, and trespassing. Bail was denied.
Retail Theft And Repeat Offenders
Retailers and loss-prevention experts have been sounding the alarm about repeat offenders and organized retail crime for years, and cases like this are exactly why. Major chains are increasingly teaming up with prosecutors to follow serial theft patterns across county and state lines, trying to turn what can look like isolated incidents into larger cases…