THIBODAUX, LA – A 19-year-old man was arrested over the weekend for “skip scanning” almost $1,300 worth of merchandise.
John Coleman told investigators that he helped several people walk out of the store where he worked as a cashier without paying for hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise “out of the goodness of his heart,” according to the Thibodaux Police Department.
Coleman scanned just $67.06 worth of items on January 2, letting the customer leave with $729.83 worth of merchandise that had “skipped” the checkout scanner.
On January 18, Coleman scanned $6.16 worth of merchandise, while the customer walked out with several items worth $560.68, according to the TPD.
Coleman said that, in each case, the customer had fallen on hard times, and the scheme was intended to help them out.
He was booked into the Lafourche Parish Detention Center for theft.