Crime & Safety
Homeless Man Charged With Stealing $400 in Fishing Gear, 14 Playstation Games From Wal-Mart
Authorities are seeking a felony shoplifting conviction for the theft from Wal-Mart.
DuPage County prosecutors have authorized felony retail theft charges against a homeless man reportedly caught stealing hundreds of dollars of fishing gear and video games at Wal-Mart, 150 Smith Road, according to police reports.
A man identifying himself only as John called Wal-Mart on Tuesday, July 16, 2013, said two individuals who had been stealing items from area Wal-Marts on a regular basis, and had shown some of their loot to the caller. According to a police report on the incident, John then gave a description of one of the men and what he was wearing and said the man was on his way to the Wal-Mart in St. Charles.
The store’s loss-prevention officer told police she watched for the suspected thief’s arrival. When a man matching the description arrived, she monitored him as he made his way through the store.
Police identified the man as Donald James Mack, 20, who is described as homeless.
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The store loss-prevention officer told police she watched Mack take a tackle box valued at $39.96 and 52 fishing lures valued at $359.92, which he placed in a Wal-Mart shopping bag. She then followed him to the Electronics Department and watched as he took 14 PlayStation 3 games valued at $279.44 and placed them into the same bag.
He then left without paying for the $679.32 in merchandize but was detained at the store until police arrived about 1:38 p.m. to arrest him on a felony charge of retail theft.
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Mack was transported to the DuPage County Jail, where he was held pending a court appearance.
Patch reports on law enforcement activity in Geneva, Batavia and St. Charles using information provided by official agencies. Persons charged with a crime, or issued a citation for violation of a local ordinance, are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. If you or a family member are charged with a crime or cited for a violation, and the charge or citation is subsequently adjudicated, we encourage you to notify editor Rick Nagel at rickn@patch.com and we will do follow-up reporting on the case.
