2 Walmart Shoplifters Busted With Drugs

A woman accused of stealing a phone charger from Walmart told deputies she gave the merchandise back because she “did not want to go to jail.” Then deputies found the fentanyl. She went to jail. It was one of two recent South Point Walmart theft calls that started with relatively small amounts of merchandise but ended with suspects facing drug charges. Deputies Find Suspect at Wendy's In the first case, Walmart loss prevention employees reported a woman had stolen a charging cable and block and then left the store. Employees told deputies she'd gone to nearby Wendy's. An officer found Courtney Reed inside the restaurant and asked whether she'd been at Walmart and taken anything. Reed admitted taking the charger and block, according to the report. She said she was from Charleston, West Virginia, had become stranded and her phone was dead. She also said she'd returned the merchandise because she didn't want to go to jail. The deputy took Reed back to Walmart, where loss prevention employees identified her as the woman they'd seen on surveillance passing the final point of sale without paying. Walmart wanted to pursue charges. Then came the search. The deputy asked Reed whether there was anything in her bags they should be concerned about. She initially said no. When loss prevention employees discovered something inside, Reed reportedly said she'd forgotten that she had “a stamp and a half” of fentanyl because she'd smoked some earlier. The substance field-tested positive for fentanyl and weighed between .8 and 1 gram, according to the report. Reed was transported to the Lawrence County Jail and booked on charges of theft and possession of fentanyl. Umbrella Theft Leads to Purse Full of Pills In a separate Walmart case, loss prevention employees reported seeing Jennifer Miller conceal merchandise inside her purse. Employees said Miller then removed an umbrella from its packaging and walked out through the pharmacy side of the store. Loss prevention attempted to stop her before she made it through the final door, but she allegedly hurried past them. A deputy caught up with Miller in the crosswalk. According to the report, she “acted as though nothing was going on.” The deputy escorted her back inside Walmart, where officers began removing allegedly stolen merchandise from her purse. That's when they started finding pills. The deputy first discovered five Suboxone. Miller said she had a prescription but didn't keep the medication in its prescription container. Deeper inside the purse, the deputy found a gold-colored locket-style container holding several different pills and substances. Among them were another piece of Suboxone film and five alprazolam pills, according to the report. Miller was arrested and transported to the Lawrence County Jail, where she was booked on theft and possession charges. Walmart documented 19 stolen items totaling $105.41. In both cases, what began as a Walmart shoplifting complaint ended with deputies finding controlled substances and taking the suspects to jail.

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