Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Ian Harrison Kennard, 33, was arrested yesterday after allegedly stealing “hundreds of dollars (sometimes over $1,000) of merchandise” from Walmart in five incidents in the week after Christmas.
On December 31, a Loss Prevention Officer (LPO) at the Butler Plaza Walmart informed Gainesville Police Department (GPD) detectives that Kennard had committed four “push-out” thefts since December 26; the LPO said that on December 31, Kennard had stolen $1,100 in merchandise. The LPO said Kennard typically parks near the Garden Center entrance, fills a cart with hundreds of dollars of merchandise, then goes back to the Garden Center and waits for the associate there to be distracted before pushing his cart out of the exit without paying…