Anna lightens the tone after two pretty heavy True Crime 101’s and takes us on a tour of Walmarts and their crimes.
Wikipedia notes that “Walmart is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores, and grocery stores, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. The company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962 and incorporated on October 31, 1969. As of October 31, 2019, Walmart has 11,438 stores and clubs in 27 countries, operating under 55 different names. Walmart is the world’s largest company by revenue, with US$514.405 billion, according to the Fortune Global 500 list in 2019. It is also the largest private employer in the world with 2.2 million employees.”
Inside Edition’s August 2019 article on Walmarts states: “Fights regularly break out at Walmart’s across the nation. Crime at Walmart is so rampant in certain cities that police departments say their resources are being stretched thin responding to calls. In the small city of Chicopee, Massachusetts, there is only one Walmart, but cops say they’ve received 2,359 calls since 2015“
But why are Walmarts a hotbed for crime? Inside Edition notes “Law enforcement experts say that when strangers find themselves mixing in one place, criminal behavior is likely to happen.”
Here are some of the best crimes of Walmart. Please note that we are not poking fun at anything – especially as some terrible things have happened. This is meant purely as lighthearted fun.
Police say a man became stuck to a store toilet seat after someone spread glue on it at the Wal-Mart in Elkton, MD. Officials refused to say how long the man was attached to the seat before he was able to flag down some help. The seat was removed from the toilet and the man was taken to the emergency room with the seat still attached to him. The seat was later removed at the emergency room.
25-year-old Josseleen Lopez entered her local Walmart on a motorized shopping cart with a bottle of wine in her hand. She must have had the munchies because she started grazing food in store and putting them back on the shelves when she was finished. After her somewhat eclectic meal, she was arrested for stealing $32.36 items.
Virginia man, Johnathan Peyton (not pictured), stole 26 gallons of milk from his local Walmart dressed in a cow suit. Peyton was 18 years old in 2011 when he dressed like a cow, loaded up his cart, and tried to leave the store. When he went across the street to a McDonald’s the police arrested him.
A man was arrested in a South Carolina Walmart when he went in with a gun and threatened to “shoot up” the store if the store clerk at the register didn’t let him leave the store with a shotgun. When the police came he was sitting on an aisle floor and had fallen asleep.
A Walmart shopper saw three men trying to leave the store with beer they hadn’t paid for and would not stand for it. Monique Lawless, a mother from Alvin, Texas, exited the checkout line and chased after them. “I told the cashier, ‘Do something, they are leaving,’ and she couldn’t do anything, so I just told her, ‘Watch my purse,’”. She ran after the thieves and hopped on their Camaro. They began to drive away but Monique held her grip long enough to slow them down before falling. The Police were eventually able to chase the car down and arrest the men. They were charged with a felony evading arrest and aggravated robbery.
Store supervisors found it strange when they saw a woman riding the electronic mobility cart in the store’s parking lot at 9.30 am. The woman also appeared to be drinking wine from a Pringles can. When they realised that the woman was drinking in the parking lot, the store authorities called the Police. When Texas police arrived at the spot, the woman was found eating at a nearby restaurant and it was discovered that found that the woman had been riding the cart and sipping on whatever was inside the Pringles can from as early as 6am that morning.
Sources
Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walmart
Inside Edition – https://www.insideedition.com/why-walmarts-are-hotbeds-crime-55035
CBS Local – https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2011/04/05/man-glued-to-toilet-seat-in-store-bathroom/
Cheatsheet – https://www.cheatsheet.com/money-career/these-are-the-most-bizarre-crimes-ever-committed-at-walmart.html/
HuffPost – https://www.huffpost.com/entry/walmart-shopper-chases-af_n_882254
News18 – https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/woman-banned-from-walmart-for-drinking-wine-from-a-pringles-can-2001627.html
