Posing as a Walmart assistant store manager, a burglar entered a Walmart store in Orlando, Fla. and exited with more than $200,000 cash. Walmart officials say "it is the only crime of its kind" to happen at a Walmart store.
A thief posing as a Walmart store assistant manager stole more than $200,000 from a store in Orange County, Florida reports the Orlando Sentinel.
The incident actually occurred on July 11, but the Orange County Sheriff's Office "waited until Friday to seek the public's help after exhausting conventional means to catch the thief."
Store video surveillance shows a man entering Walmart's Turkey Lake Road store in Orlando pushing a shopping cart containing two white file boxes. A Walmart worker told officials that the man was wearing a Walmart assistant manager badge with the name "John" on it. The employee assumed the stranger was a new supervisor.
"John" walked to the store's office and asked a cashier to hold the shopping cart while he went inside the office. "John" "used a key to open a locked, inner-office door, and he walked right to the safe in the back of the office," according to the Orlando Sentinel.
The thief then closed the safe, put the boxes on his shopping cart and headed for the store exit.
A Walmart greeter stopped "John" and asked to see his sales receipt. According to the Orlando Sentinel, an incident report states that "The man continued to walk out the store. Upon insisting to see his receipt, the man held up his name badge that said assistant manager and 10 years of service on it." The greeter allowed "John" to exit.
Finally, the burglar exited the store, loaded the boxes into his white Ford Explorer, which was waiting near the outside entrance of the store, got into his vehicle and drove off.
The Orlando Sentinel reports that the Sheriff's Office indicated that the cash stolen "exceeded $200,000." The charge for a crime like this is one count of first-degree grand theft because it is a "crime involving theft of more than $100,000."
The surveillance video has been shown to most of the store's employees but none have admitted to recognizing the burglar.
Sheriff's Detective David Lindberg is quoted as saying:
There's surveillance video of a lot of crime, but without the right audience seeing it to identify the suspect, it's just video. That's why we want the public to look at it.
Lindberg also told the Orlando Sentinel that "Walmart officials say it's the only crime of its kind in one of its stores."
The burglar appears to be a 5-foot, 11-inch, 240-pound, bald, black man wearing a porkpie-style hat, clear eyeglasses, black pants, a long-sleeve blue shirt, a necktie and black knit gloves. His age was not estimated. Anyone who recognizes the suspect is asked to call Crimeline at 407-423-8477.