Incredible! Pay for the altar flowers next Sunday! You were really fortunate.
I tend to think of shoplifters as just sort of snatching something that appeals to them, or maybe going for a few small things (teenage girls stealing makeup, for example), but this kid sounds very systematic and I doubt it was the first time he was out there doing it. Of course, he probably won't get much punishment from the justice system, but it sure sounds as if shoplifting has moved up a whole notch on the seriousness scale.
Even so, the scenario with the "4 men" mixing pool chemicals to cause an explosion after stealing a "toy" is truly bizarre and it seems as if there must have been something else going on, some other motive than the theft of the toy. Maybe they were just trying out the explosion tactic to see how it worked as a diversion? I hope WalMart plans to secure these chemicals a little better.
You would be surprised, I have testified in 4 different murder trials as a Wal-Mart LP. One of the jokes we had was that no matter what the crime, there is always a Wal-Mart connection, where do you think they get the Rubber-Maid tote boxes to stuff the bodies in???