A Summerfield man was arrested for theft after leaving Walmart with $229 in stolen groceries inside reusable shopping bags.
A deputy responded to Walmart, located at 4085 Wedgewood Ln., The Villages, regarding retail theft around 2:55 p.m. Tuesday, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. Upon arrival, he met with loss prevention officers to investigate 58-year-old Matthew Lamar Woods.
They advised that prior to leaving the store, they saw Woods walking around with a woman. She put all their items into reusable shopping bags in a cart. Loss prevention followed him out of the store on the automotive side, passing all points of sale without paying for the items. They then escorted him to the Loss Prevention Office, the report said.
The deputy reviewed the footage which showed Woods coming in through the grocery side of the store at 2:25 p.m. He left through the automotive side at 2:51 p.m., avoiding all registers to pay. At no point did he approach the registers at the front of the store to pay for his $229.52 in grocery items, the report said…