After stealing over $20,000 in goods from Walmart, this shoplifter has finally been caught and arrested. This may seem like your typical robbery case, but just wait until you hear his name. Walmart caught 40-year-old Speedy Gonzalez on security footage getting away with hidden goods in a self-checkout.
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This happened in a Gainesville Walmart in Georgia. Speedy Gonzalez, yes you heard that right, managed to hide goods in a trash can while checking out. He then just scanned the trash can in hopes of getting away with stealing the other hidden items.
Walmart Shoplifer With Hilarious Name Arrested
According to the Daily Mail, this is a tactic similar to what shoplifters call the "banana trick." All this means is that a shoplifter scans bananas, or any cheap item, at self-checkout instead of the expensive item. Security saw the "speedy" stealer stash pricey items like diabetic test strips and nicotine products.
"Nicotine, gum, diabetic strips, you know, high-priced items, although smaller in nature," said Lt. Kevin Holbrook from Gainesville Police, per the New York Post. "He would then pick out an item from the shelf, such as a trash can. In one instance, it was a mailbox. Then take all those items, stick it into the box with the larger item, and then take that, pay for it, and walk out of the store."
The police managed to catch him in the act as they awaited his return 10 days later. Once they noticed him pulling the same tactic, they arrested him. The cops say that Gonzalez stole more than 20 times from stores before they caught him.
They also found more stolen products in his vehicle after a thorough search. This reportedly linked Gonzalez to a myriad of other heists in the state. It included counties like Barrow, Gwinnet, Habersham, Hall, Lumpkin, and White.
This shoplifter, whose name harkons back to the Looney Tunes character Speedy Gonzales, has a history of crime. In April 2020, police caught this bandit purchasing $3,000 worth of Home Depot goods using stolen checks.
The authorities detained Gonzalez in a jail in Barrow County after they moved him from Hall County Jail. For how long it took them to catch the criminal, he surely fits the name Speedy Gonzalez. Even the internet couldn't believe what they heard.
"speedy gonzalez living up to the name but not in the way his parents hoped," one X user wrote. Another said that Gonzalez "wasn't speedy enough apparently."
They have rooked me on their 'buy 2 and get 1 free' often. I always check, then go challenge them...
I suppose anything is possible. With hundreds of stores in varying unique markets, all with thousands of products stocked and constantly re-stocked day and night, and grocery stores wholesale cost in constant flux, and about 100 sale items changing weekly, and then factor in the thousands of customers daily (hourly) and those thousands upon thousands of transactions each minute (each second) and much more in the realm of things that can go wrong but must go right (I could go on with more things, but I won't.) And all of it subject to computer glitches, and human error, and who knows what...Well, mistakes are going to happen. Mistakes. Any high volume business is subject to this. But the systematic, by design, completely intentional practice of outright cheating of customers as a means to make a profit is virtually unheard of. Because it would be stupid. A recipe for disaster. So...I don't buy this lady's story. Something is not right. I don't think Publix did this. And actually, I would say this if it was any grocery store, but especially Publix. After all, Publix has the Publix promise, and the Publix Guarantee. I don't think any other grocery chain in the U.S. has a higher level of standard customer protection and customer satisfaction policies than Publix. Publix has a guarantee that it "will never knowingly disappoint you"...If a purchase doesn't satisfy the customer, return the item for any reason, or NO REASON, and the full purchase price will be refunded. And the "Publix Promise" guarantees that if during checkout, the scanned price of an item (excluding alcohol and tobacco products) exceeds the shelf price or advertised price, Publix will give the customer one of that item free. (And will charge the lower price for any remaining items.) So, this lady should have got her $17.48 pork loin FOR FREE! And all those other items she has been overpaying were free too. All she had to do was point out the price discrepancy which would have been obvious. And also, blatant fraud. Yes, fraud...not deception, is what Koutouzis is apparently alleging. If true, the incident(s) she claims to be a victim of would be (in my opinion) criminal fraud under Florida statute 501.135. I am not a lawyer and no...I don't work for Publix. Anything is possible, I suppose. But I say...this story don't pass the smell test for me.