A ‘serial shoplifter’ was arrested last month after he walked out of a supermarket with a 70-inch TV. You can see how it played out here:
John Ray Lomack, 55, was caught on camera giving the television the once over at a Target store in Seattle before loading it up into his trolley and walking out without paying.
CCTV footage shows Lomack, who is believed to be homeless, brazenly walk towards the store’s exit while security staff attempt to stop him - at one they succeed in preventing him from leaving through the revolving door - but Lomack simply walks off and goes out via a different door.
A court document claims: “At no point in time did he attempt to pay for the item.”
He then made off down the street with the TV, but was met by cops who told him to ‘unhand the property’.
According to radio station KTTH, one of the officers ‘immediately recognised Lomack as a person trespassed from the Target for multiple thefts’.
At this point, Lomack refuses and claims to have bought the TV but can’t provide a receipt as proof.
He is then arrested by police, but resists, resulting in a ‘physical struggle’. However, cops were eventually able to take him into custody where he was charged with burglary over the $600 TV.
Staff claim this is Lomack’s 22nd theft from the store in just three months, with the thief making off with around $6,000 worth of items. He was banned from the store at the time he attempted to steal the TV on 23 December.
He has a lengthy criminal history, dating back to 1985, with more than 30 charges for crimes including burglary, possession of cocaine and assault.
Lomack appeared in court this week, where Judge Melinda Young released him without bail.
Lomack was reportedly ‘medically unavailable’ due to being exposed to coronavirus and will ‘continue to quarantine until his quarantine period is done’.
According to reports, he will quarantine at a homeless hotel operated by the Public Defender Association Equity Just Care Program.
A security guard at the Target store told KTTH that a theft happens ‘about every 10 minutes’ and a report from the news outlet claims to have seen two attempts in just 12 minutes.
Claire Reid