COAL TOWNSHIP - A Sunbury man tried to fool a Walmart employee with an outdated receipt while trying to steal more than $1,000 in merchandise, police said.
Township police patrolman David Sage charged Aaron McAfee, 33, of 67 Memorial Acres, with a misdemeanor charge of retail theft after he allegedly attempted to leave Walmart SuperCenter with $1,101.73 in merchandise Jan. 28.
After hearing an alarm indicating a shopper was leaving the store with a non-deactivated shoplifting sensor, customer service manager Donna Shearn approached McAfee near the store entrance and asked to see his sales receipt. McAfee produced a receipt from Jan. 14. When this was brought to his attention, McAfee left the store without the merchandise.
When police arrived, the employees said McAfee was sitting in a parked vehicle.
McAfee told Sage he purchased a number of DVDs and a storage container, and when he left the store, was asked to produce a sales receipt. When he showed her an outdated one, he got upset and left the store, and was waiting for someone inside the store, according to the affidavit.
Shearn showed Sage the receipt given to her by McAfee; it was dated for Jan. 14 for $228.98 in purchases, according to the affidavit. Shearn said the value of the merchandise McAfee left in the cart was $1,101.73 and none of it bagged.
McAfee told police he planned to remove the items from the store without paying, police said. McAfee also said he brought the outdated receipt with him in case he was stopped by an employee.
McAfee was sent a summons on the charges by Magisterial District Judge John Gembic III, of Shamokin. A preliminary hearing is set for March 25 before Gembic.