A Florida man has been arrested and charged with theft at Walmart after stealing Pokemon merchandise from a store on North Missouri Ave.
As reported by WFLA news channel 8The person arrested by police is from the Belleair Bluffs area of Pinellas County, Florida.
His name is Tyler Branson, 35 years old, and according to police, he began stealing several Pokemon items from shelves on July 1, 2022.
Branson allegedly used a particular strategy to take the items from the store without payment, which included Magic The Gathering cards.
Belleair Bluffs Police Department
Tyler Branson was arrested.
It was alleged that he took the items to the self-checkout at Walmart with no intention of paying for any of them.
He would tamper with the scanner, the report said, by placing the Magic cards he had already scanned over the unscanned merch. This enabled him to avoid having the prices added up to his total.
Then he tried to leave without security noticing.
An affidavit of arrest states that Branson was arrested at 9:43 a.m. following a series of similar incidents to prevent casualties.
Taurus Emerald, Wikimedia
The Florida man was arrested after being stopped at a Walmart store.
Mr. Branson has claimed that these stolen Pokemon goods were taken as gifts for his family.
Despite this, he was charged with retail theft. Corresponding South Florida AttorneyPenalties for petty theft in the state of Florida can include a fine of up to $400 and/or imprisonment.
