SOUTH EUCLIDE, Ohio (WOIO) – A Garfield Heights man has been arrested for the 70th time after he shoplifted a cart and suitcase full of meat from a store, South Euclid Police have confirmed.
Mason Hart Jr., 62, was imprisoned in South Euclid Prison for theft.
According to SEPD, Loss Prevention at a Walmart store on Warrensville Center Road called police and a shoplifter paid for a shopping cart full of various wrapped cuts of meat and a suitcase on January 5. reported that he had been pushed out of the store.
The suspect was then seen stuffing meat inside a stolen suitcase in a parking lot near the Pennsylvania Station dumpster, according to SEPD.
According to SEPD, he threw the meat in the trash that wouldn’t fit in the stolen suitcase.
SEPD said the suspect was unable to push the shopping cart off the Walmart property because the shopping cart’s security feature locked the front wheels and left it in the parking lot.
Officers stopped the suspect at an RTA bus stop across from a Walmart and identified him as Mason Hart Jr.
Hart Jr. already had several warrants, some of which were from South Euclid, according to SEPD.
According to SEPD, Hart admitted to selling the stolen meat to restaurants, usually paying half the face value on the price tag.
Hart did not identify the restaurant, but told police there were no restaurants in the South Euclid area.
A Walmart representative told police the items stolen by Hart Jr. were worth a total of $447.90.
Hart, Jr. is prohibited from entering all Walmart-owned stores and facilities. If he violates the order, he could face criminal trespass charges.
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