U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has placed a hold on a Venezuelan who skipped a court date after her arrest in October at a Walmart in The Villages.
Alejandra Franco-Gimenez, 32, was being held over the Thanksgiving holiday at the Sumter County Detention Center waiting to be turned over to ICE. She was supposed to show up in court to answer to a theft charge, but failed to do so, therefore a warrant was issued charging her with failure to appear.
In the original incident on Oct. 23, Franco-Gimenez was in the self-checkout aisle at the store at Buffalo Ridge Plaza when a Walmart loss prevention associate was watching her on surveillance, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. She scanned a bag of cookies and put them in a bag, but then failed to scan a hoodie and also put it in the bag. The loss prevention associate paused the transaction and had another store employee go over to assist Franco-Gimenez.
After the employee left Franco-Gimenez at the self-checkout, she “purposely continued to scan one or two items then would place multiple items in the bag,” the report said. She paid for only the items she had scanned and walked out with all of the merchandise. The loss prevention officer stopped Franco-Gimenez and escorted her to the loss prevention office…