A Florida woman has been arrested after allegedly paying only $3.70(£2.82) for nearly $2,000(£1522.42) worth of electronics at a Walmart self-checkout.
A Walmart loss prevention employee told police he saw 25-year-old Cheyenne Amber West walk into his store in Indian River County with another woman, later identified by police as her mother.
The employee said the women started taking video game controllers, a computer, and other electronics off the shelves. He then followed them to the clearance section, where he claims they began taking the cheaper price tags and sticking them onto their items.
The women then proceeded to the self-checkout, where they allegedly paid less than $4 for $1,828.90 worth of products.
Arrest records indicate that Ms West is a waitress from nearby Fort Pierce, Florida. She was arrested on 6 November and released the next day on a $3,000 bond.
According to an affidavit, Ms West told an officer that she was attempting to purchase gifts for her son that she could not afford. The computer, she added, was for her husband.
“Since he just got me a Coach purse, I figured he deserved something nice as well,” she said.
Her mother, Alicia West, reportedly told officers that she knew what her daughter was doing, but that “she was just trying to get gifts for her son”.
Ms West has been charged with felony grand theft and misdemeanour retail theft. A conviction for felony grand theft can carry up to 5 years in prison or a $5,000 fine. Her court date is set for 13 December.
Self-checkout lanes and apps generate more than double the loss of standard checkout lanes, according to a recent study from the University of Leicester. The researchers discovered that nearly four per cent of the items taken through self-checkout lanes are not scanned.
