Florida middle school principal arrested for ‘skip scanning’ at Walmart: ‘I did something dumb’

nypost.com ^ | April 7, 2025, | Richard Pollina

[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.

[aquila48]

DEI at work.

[jimfree]

“You know the nearer your destination the more you’re slip scannin’ away.”

[Mean Daddy]

If you go to Walmart’s self service kiosks & try double bagging an item before paying, it alerts their staff and locks your kiosk. I ring up all my items, pay for them & then double bag my items.

[gunnut]

It is Polk County and Sheriff Judd is known to be tough on crime but it still surprises me.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

LOL...that kid was watching you like a hawk! You must have that “criminal element” look about you. ;>)

[Steve_Seattle]

One wonders if the massive shoplifting phenomenon that we've experienced in recent years can at least partially be traced to the messages kids are receiving in school. In my area, the shoplifting is not limited to the homeless, the addicted, and the poor. I know a woman who works in a grocery store in an affluent neighborhood a mile away from the main thoroughfare where the homeless congregate. She says that most of the shoplifters there - and they are rampant - are teenagers and pre-teens who look like they are well-off, or at least middle-class.

Stores in the area are forced to put more and more items in locked cabinets or even in rooms accessible only to employees. If you want - say - an electric toothbrush, you give a coupon to a clerk, and he retrieves the item from the back room.

Last week, I was in a Safeway looking for some AA batteries. I couldn't find them anywhere, so I went into a secure area where they keep alcoholic beverages and OTC pharmacy items and asked a clerk. He pointed to a locked cabinet and said he would open it for me when he was finished with a customer who was checking out. When he opened the cabinet, he asked me which batteries I wanted, handed them to me, and then relocked the cabinet.

Also last week, I was at the post office to buy some stamps, and the clerk wouldn't let me hold the box with the various sheets of stamps in it. She held the box and riffled through the stamps, and I told her which ones I wanted. She said this was the new policy.

[aquila48]

DEI at work.

[V_TWIN]

We self checkout at Walmart and never have much of a problem.....there’s always 2 or 3 employees there that job it is to assist.

My biggest bitch about paying with credit/debit card anywhere is all the damn card readers are different everywhere you go.....PITA!

[Savage Beast]

"his friends had told him about the shoplifting tactic"

Dump those "friends" and get some new ones.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“You’d think a school like that would have vetted their principal a little better.”

They took one look at him and said “He’s our guy” resume be damned.

[V_TWIN]

“Has he been terminated for cause yet?”

Didn’t you see his picture?...What do you think? Lol!

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“Doesn’t seem worth it.”

That’s only because he didn’t pilfer a dozen eggs.

[V_TWIN]

Apparently the school background check prior to hiring dude didn’t include interviewing those friends. 😁

[Jane Long]

Yeah....that’s it! ;-)

[Steve_Seattle]

"My biggest bitch about paying with credit/debit card anywhere is all the damn card readers are different everywhere you go.....PITA!"

Sometimes, the same store has different kinds of card readers at different checkout stands. The annoying readers are the ones that don't ask if you're willing to pay the cash-back fee until the very end of the transaction. You ask for the cash-back right at the start, then do everything else, including entering your PIN and removing your card from the machine, THEN it asks you if you are willing to pay the fee.

[V_TWIN]

After I retired I saw a local news story about a woman that worked at my facility.....she was always on the fast track but common belief was she was at least 2 levels above where she should have been and was Making at least $90k annually. DEI for sure.

The news story said she had been arrested for shoplifting high-end items at Dillard’s department store.

That sounds like an illness.....this guy just saw an opportunity and acted.

[Mark was here]

You had a choice to use the self-checkout at Walmart. I suppose if you went to the cashier checkout you would consider yourself a “non-paid basket unloader” as you put the items you wanted to purchase on the conveyer, another line item on your resume.
Of course, your resume would include “non-paid basket loader” as you performed your resume enhancer task as a “non-paid isle-walker.
Congratulations on not mentioning the crime you witnessed, you are correct, the only time someone should report a theft is when one is paid to do so.

[V_TWIN]

Home depot.....THE only card reader that to bypass debit/PIN# and use credit you have to know to hit the red X.....WTH is that? 🤷

[DPMD]

I made a mistake; I thought this was California.

[Bullish]

I’d bet he’s a long time habitual shoplifter. I’m surprised he fessed up to it though. They often will deny and lie even after they’re caught red-handed.