A woman arrested Monday after allegedly stealing groceries at the Wal-Mart in Summerfield, blamed a defective scanner in the incident.
Tina Dickinson, 29, of Ocklawaha, initially attracted the attention of the store’s loss prevention officer when she was walking through the grocery section, feeding unpurchased items including chicken poppers and Dr. Pepper to a small child who was with her, according to an arrest report from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
When Dickinson went to a self-checkout lane, the loss prevention officer noticed Dickinson bypassing the scanner and bagging merchandise.
She left the store with $43.99 worth of merchandise for which she had not paid, the arrest report indicated.
She denied she had tried to steal the food and said it was not her fault “that the items did not scan,” the arrest report said.
She was arrested on charge of petit theft and booked at the Marion County Jail on $500 bond.