Suspects Arrested on Retail Fraud After Third Visit to Store in a Week

A Swartz Creek man and Flint woman were arrested on charges of retail fraud after three consecutive trips to the same Walmart, attempting to steal the same items, police said.

On Aug. 26 security personnel contacted and in a cart and exited the store without paying for the items, Fenton Police Chief Rick Aro said. He said Walmart security personnel told police the same male and female entered the store on Aug. 28 and allegedly took the same items in a similar matter.

On Aug. 30 around noon, police received another call from a Walmart employee reporting that the two suspects had entered the store once again, Aro said.

He said officers were dispatched to the location and observed the female suspect pull up towards a door on the east side of the building in a vehicle and saw the male suspect run out the door carrying an object. Police made a traffic stop on the vehicle at Owen Road and Silver Parkway. Aro said police observed a Playstation 3 with the security device still attached in the back seat of the 1995 Ford Escort and arrested both the 22-year-old Flint female and the 26-year-old Swartz Creek male on charges of retail fraud.

They were taken to the Fenton Police Department, where officers discovered they had 10 outstanding warrants for retail fraud and other charges between them, Aro said.

Aro said police are pursuing charges of retail fraud for all three incidents.