Men accused of walking out of store with TVs

Talk about it

Two Dickinson men allegedly took two 32-inch liquid crystal TVs from Wal-Mart Wednesday evening, according to the Dickinson Police Department.

“The gentlemen tried to exit through one of our outlying area doors and they were approached and asked if they had a receipt — so that’s how we caught them,” said Kristi Schwartz, store manager.

The men then fled the scene, leaving a shopping cart full of merchandise behind, she said.

“They were trying to get away quickly, so they left that,” Schwartz said.

Somebody at the store got a license plate number and police tracked down Cole Baker, 19 and Timothy Rocha, 18, who are accused of shoplifting.

“We talked to them and they admitted to it,” said Lt. Rod Banyai.

The men were arrested and cited for retail theft, he said.

The men took the police to the TVs, which Banyai said were returned to Wal-Mart. One TV was in a trash bin and the other was dropped off with a person who the men said had no idea the TV was stolen, according to the police report.

The cart full of items included a surround sound system, GPS systems, CDs and cologne.

Banyai said the TVs plus the items in the cart were worth about $2,269.

Numbers for Rocha and Baker could not be found.

Tags: news, local, wal, mart, theft, tvs