When Eatonton police officers caught a suspected shoplifter at Walmart last week, they found a surprise in his car. Indeed, according to the incident report, the car was full of surprises.
When questioned, the man admitted he had just stolen the $1,800 worth of items from the Walmart in Milledgeville.
The Eatonton Supercenter’s Loss Prevention staff called the Eatonton Police Department shortly before 9 p.m. Dec. 10 to report a shoplifting in progress, EPD Officer Chris Burket wrote in his report. Officers Burket, Tommy Williams, and Sgt. Eli James responded to the call and was provided with a description of the shoplifter.
As they arrived, they saw a man who fit the description about to walk out of the store, so they stopped him before he got out. The man, later identified as Marcus Miller, was pushing a shopping cart with a large black plastic trash can inside the cart. The officers discovered an HP laptop computer, valued at $479, hidden inside the trash can.
“When I asked Miller if he had paid for either of the items, he advised that he had not,” Burket wrote in his report.
A check on Miller’s identification revealed that his driver’s license had been suspended, so Burket asked Miller how he got to Walmart.
“He denied driving at first,” Burket’s report revealed. “Then Miller advised that he had his girlfriend’s car, and she was unaware that he had her vehicle at that time.”
The officers reportedly asked Miller where the car was parked so they could “ensure that it was secured,” because they were taking him to jail.
“Upon locating the vehicle in the parking lot, (we) discovered the vehicle was running, and there was a large blue plastic tub outside the passenger side of the vehicle with a lid partially on,” Burket wrote in his report.
Looking in the windows, the officers saw multiple boxes of electronic items in the back seat.
When asked, Miller reportedly confessed that he had stolen the items from the Walmart in Milledgeville. He said there were more items in the trunk of the car. Because it was raining, the car was towed to the Eatonton Police Department to be searched and its contents inventoried.
“There were five gaming monitors and five sound bars totaling $1,800 worth of property stolen from the Baldwin County Walmart,” Eatonton Police Chief Howell Cardwell told The Eatonton Messenger.
Cardwell said the Milledgeville Walmart staff was unaware the items had been taken until EPD officers called them. The next morning, a store’s Loss Prevention Department representative arrived to claim the items, and the Milledgeville Police Department was notified.
The search of the car, a 2017 Nissan Maxima, also revealed a backpack containing “a large bag of a green leafy substance that had the strong odor of marijuana, several plastic bags, scales, and a Ruger 9mm handgun,” according to Burket’s report.
Marcus Devon Miller, 36, of Irish Lane, Milledgeville, is being held without bond in Putnam County Jail on charges of felony theft by shoplifting, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm during the commission of or attempt to commit a crime and theft by shoplifting — on a warren from Baldwin County.