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A WALMART customer was arrested after he allegedly stole thousands using a ‘switcheroo’ trick.
Ryan Meador was taken into custody for stealing $2,300 worth of merchandise, police said.
Meador would allegedly apply the price tag of a cheaper item to a more expensive one, making the product appear significantly less costly.
“Through investigation, we learned – between July 15th & July 25th – one suspect stole more than $2300.00 in collector sports cards (TOPPS and other brand(s) baseball / football),” Sheriff Jason Ard said in a Facebook post.
“So, we learned he would ‘palm’ the UPC barcodes for cheaper items (EXAMPLE: Great Value pasta @ $0.98 and similar items).
“Essentially, he was scanning the cheaper barcodes in place of the Sports item(s).”
The Livingston Parish Sheriff’s office said the suspect was captured on camera stealing from the Walmart in Watson, Louisiana.
The sheriff’s office partnered with the LSP Fugitive Task Force to take Meador into custody.
He was arrested for one count of felony theft and six misdemeanor cases combined to one felony for an aggregate amount.
“Our detectives have been working with partner agencies & Meador could be facing more charges in other jurisdictions,” the sheriff said.
“Our investigation continues.”
Attached to the Facebook post is a photo of Meador, with writing that reads: “All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty.”
Other photos on the post show a man’s hand holding a barcode above the product he’s checking out at a self-checkout machine.
Four different photos taken from security footage show a person pulling the “switcheroo” trick.
The switcheroo trick has some Facebook users begging for regular checkout aisles manned by employees rather than self-checkout machines.
“Maybe if they put cashiers back at the registers, they wouldn’t have thefts like this and skip scanning,” one user commented under the announcement of Meador’s arrest.
Anti-theft measures rolled out by retailers
Retailers across the US and Canada have rolled out strategies designed to combat theft. The U.S. Sun has compiled a list of measures that have been implemented at stores.
- Locking items in cabinets
- Security pegs
- Security cameras
- Signs warning about the impact of theft
- Receipt scanners
- Receipt checks
- Carts with locking technology
Another woman said this type of theft is inevitable with self-checkout machines.
“That’s what happens when customers are allowed to scan their merchandise,” she commented.
“He’s no different than the ones who are only scanning every other item. When will Walmart learn? I guess it is all factored in to the cost of doing business.
“Meanwhile, those of us who refuse to use self-checkouts will absorb the losses in paying higher prices.”
Other users simply made fun of the suspect for stealing baseball cards.
“Who goes to jail for kids cards?” one person commented.
