OKEECHOBEE — A local man was arrested and charged with grand theft Tuesday after allegedly walking away with a bag filled with cash accidentally left at a self checkout register by a …
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OKEECHOBEE — A local man was arrested and charged with grand theft Tuesday after allegedly walking away with a bag filled with cash accidentally left at a self checkout register by a manager.
His bond was set at $2,500.
Carlton Alderman
According to the Okeechobee Police Department arrest report, one of the Walmart customer service managers was emptying the self checkout register vaults on Monday morning, July 29, and while normally she would have used what they call the “war wagon,” a roll around vault, because the cleaning crews had waxed the floors around the cash office, there was no access to the war wagon or to regular money bags. Instead, she used a shopping cart and double Walmart bags for each register.
When she completed her task, she counted all the bags and realized she was short one. After checking receipts, she was able to determine which register the missing bag belonged to, and she returned to that register to search for it, but it was nowhere to be found. She immediately reported the loss to asset protection who called the police.
Detective Bill Saum of the Okeechobee City Police Department met with Walmart’s Asset Protection Officer Carl Guerrette. They were able to view security video from the register and from other cameras in the store and parking lot and reportedly saw an unknown black male look at the cash in the bag and then use his debit card to pay for his purchases. He then walked out of the store with the bag of cash in his hand and got into a small silver two-door vehicle and left the property.
According to the report, the offender was tentatively identified as Carlton Alderman, 61, Northeast 12th Street the following day. Detective Saum met with Alderman at his place of employment, and Alderman reportedly unlocked his vehicle voluntarily, and showed Detective Saum the Walmart bag, still tied closed and sitting on the back seat of the car. When he opened the bag, Detective Saum found a package of Austin crackers sitting on top of the stolen cash.
Alderman was transported to the Okeechobee County jail.
