Some criminal cases are unusual, humorous or just outright odd. And there's no shortage of them on the Treasure Coast. This column will highlight cases that often leave observers shaking their heads.
Unauthorized sale
Wal-Mart has plenty of sales, but in one case recently, one was going on it didn't know about.
A Port St. Lucie woman who worked as a cashier was apparently reducing prices on items she sold to other employees and customers she knew.
The unauthorized sale was discovered when a loss prevention officer at Wal-Mart noticed an employee on her day off take several items up to the cashier. She noticed the cashier did not scan some items and other items were rung up at a reduced price, according to an arrest affidavit.
The items totaled about $181, but the buyer only paid about $13. What a great sale!
The buyer, also a cashier, claimed she did not know she was getting a special deal. But one would wonder how a cashier would not know that items were being rung up at such low prices.
The cashier who rang up the items at the wrong prices admitted she had done it in other cases.
A little too optimistic
A man caught shoplifting in Vero Beach didn't think he had committed a very serious crime.
In fact, he told an Indian River County deputy that he expected to receive only a trespass warning.
However, he was charged with felony theft after it was determined he had been previously convicted of theft twice.
So he received more than he expected. And there's little doubt he also will get the trespass warning.
Men in white
When a man reported someone had stolen a bicycle from his garage, Port St. Lucie Police soon discovered another man who lived two doors down from the victim had sold the bicycle.
The accused thief, however, initially claimed two men in a white truck stopped at his residence and left the bicycle and two spare tires.
He sold the bicycle, but claimed the men in the white truck were the thieves.
As to why someone would steal a bicycle from residence and drop it off at a residence two houses away, the man had no explanation.
He later admitted he stole the bicycle.