Posted on 04/07/2025 8:42:07 AM PDT by V_TWIN
A Florida middle school principal said he “did something dumb” after he was arrested at Walmart for trying a shoplifting tactic he claims his friends told him would work.
Bok Academy North Principal Gregory Lewis was at a Winter Haven Walmart in Polk County on Saturday afternoon when an asset protection officer observed him “skip scanning” at the self-checkout, WFLA reported.
The middle school principal, who admitted to the crime, told a Winter Haven police officer during his arrest that his friends had told him about the shoplifting tactic and that he wanted to try it out for himself.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
It’s a lie! He has no friends.
“ A couple of times I left Walmart with un-scanned items in my cart. ”
A good reason not to use self checkout .
You could get in trouble for an innocent mistake .
Let their people scan it
BOK academy is public charter school.
“...friends had told him about the shoplifting tactic and that he wanted to try it out for himself.”
That statement is just wrong on so many levels.
Walmart has an overhead camera on every self checkout.
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Pretty easy to tell the difference between a mistake and deliberately attempting to do what this guy got caught doing.
I love self-checkout too. Back in the day, I was a cashier, and I also hate the way bag clerks load my groceries. They mix frozen things with other things that don’t need to stay cold. They put too many cans in one bag that is heavy, which either breaks or then they double bag it.
Needless to say, when self checkout became a thing during CoVid, I started using it. A few weeks ago the self checkout lines were so long, and there was a cashier just waiting, so I went in her line. Guess what? She double rang several items, and I didn’t see it until I got home. I had to go back to the store another day and go to the customer service desk to get my money back.
So yeah, I’m a fan of them.
A lot of blacks think they have the right to steal, believing it IS a form of reparations.
Total dumbass. Walmart has recently upped their security at self checkouts with a new camera system that uses AI to catch just this type of theft.
Did the judge ask for the name of his “friends”?
I’m beginning to wonder if it’s in their DNA.
I’m a happy Walmart shopper, too. Yes, an honest one. Not just Walmart, but Meijer, Kroger, and occasionally Target, too.
The associates in the self checkout have an app on their Walmart issued phones that shows everything being scanned.
If they see something different, they shut down the scanner and then “ASSist” you.
You have to apply to get in, though, correct? Not everyone is taken.
Has he been terminated for cause yet?
Is there more to this story? Most places you are not going to be arrested and booked into jail for under $40 theft. Likely just a citation and a slap on the wrist in court. He got the full arrest, booking and mugshot.
From what I can tell from their website a potential student has to apply and be accepted.....and if the application isn’t received by a deadline you go on a wait list.
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You’d think a school like that would have vetted their principal a little better.
Idiot.
And I doubt it’s his first time. Just his first time being caught.
I use self-checkout when I have 5 items or MAYBE up to 10. I make sure that there are no specials or any weird pricing. Beyond that, something always goes wrong.
Safeway is the absolute worst — there must be five or six different kinds of pricing (”Member Only,” “Friday Specials,” “Just 4 U,” “Clipped Coupons (in the app,” “Double for Quadruple Points). Pricing is complicated and you have to watch it like a hawk.
You really do. Diversity hire is all I can say.
Good question.
This link is to the Polk county arrest document.
1st offense petit theft....weird.
https://www.polksheriff.org/inmate-profile
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