A man shopping at WALMART, with a name that ironically fits the situation, has been apprehended for pilfering goods worth more than $20,000 by employing a clever self-checkout tactic, as per the authorities.
Speedy Gonzalez, 40, allegedly evaded cops with his clever schemes until a damning surveillance video finally got him nabbed.
He successfully stole at least 20 times by taking advantage of Walmart’s self-checkout, according to police.
Allegedly, the audacious individual would fill up big empty receptacles such as trash cans or mailboxes with valuable small items, then scan the inexpensive container at the self-checkout counter, and confidently walk out with a trove of stolen goods.
Gonzalez managed to take with him “nicotine, gum, diabetic strips,” and various other costly products without drawing any suspicion from the store staff, revealed Gainesville Police Lieutenant Kevin Holbrook in an interview with Fox affiliate WAGA.
However, his spree finally came to an end when a Walmart surveillance camera captured him stuffing a trash can in March, cops said.
After seeing this video, cops learned his identity and waited until he came back to the same store just 10 days later, where they allegedly caught him in the act.
When they looked in his car outside, they found more stolen merchandise that connected him to other thefts, cops said.
Gonzalez primarily targeted stores in North Georgia, and detectives have linked him to thefts in Hall, Barrow, Gwinnett, Habersham, White, and Lumpkin counties.
Years before the alleged thefts, he also had a bad run-in with cops.
In 2020, cops in Gwinnett County caught him trying to use stolen checks to buy $3,000 worth of merchandise from Home Depot.
Detectives then realized he had nabbed the checks from a mailbox in Suwanee, a suburb of Atlanta.
Gonzalez is just one of many criminals who devise creative ways to shoplift, thinking they won’t get caught soon after.
Another shopper, Katherine Gordon, was arrested and accused of using the “banana trick” to steal $83 of groceries at a Walmart in Florida.
This scheme involves scanning incorrect barcodes from cheap items, like bananas, and using them to bag expensive products at self-checkout, so the overall cost is much lower.
However, Walmart’s checkout tech has advanced to the point where some kiosks have cameras that spy on customers’ hands and determine whether the bar code matches the actual item being scanned.
Walmart shoplifting arrests
- Ashley Cross was caught on security cameras using an old watch battery barcode to scan expensive products for just $1
- Ex-officer Mark Leenerts stole $317.88 worth of merchandise from Walmart stores in Topeka, Kansas
- Jeremiah Boyer raked in $52,800 in fees on 874 orders while working for Walmart’s online delivery service Spark
- Brent Adam Brooks, of Sylva, North Carolina, was arrested after trying to steal a $198 Frigidaire ice maker
- Kabreshia Caldwell targeted innocent senior citizen customers at Walmart stores across Northeast Florida, stealing a total of $10,000
- Katherine Gordon allegedly stole $80 worth of groceries by replacing barcodes on certain produce items
It’s unclear whether this was how Gordon was caught, but she was confronted by workers before she even made it out of the store.
When cops eventually escorted her out, they checked on her car and allegedly found two children sitting in the roasting vehicle with the windows rolled tightly up.
The poor kids were allegedly sweating and enduring fiercely hot temperatures while she yanked items off the shelves.
In arresting documents, cops wrote, “She did not think it was a problem leaving the juveniles in the vehicle as long as it was not running, further adding that the juveniles’ parents do it all the time.”
Following his arrest, Gonzalez was booked into the Hall County Jail in Gainesville, which is just an hour northeast of Atlanta.
After a short stay, he was moved to a jail in nearby Barrow County, where cops expect to file more charges.
