By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
An Atmore man, accused of stealing more than $5,000 from several different Lowe’s outlets in and around Pensacola, Fla., remained behind bars in the Sunshine State as this week began.
According to Escambia County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office reports, 32-year-old Jared Thomas Dean of a Beck Street address apparently decided to “do it right for less.”
Dean simply walked out of several Lowe’s stores without paying for the merchandise he took with him.
He was arrested July 11 when company loss prevention specialists were finally able to identify him on video surveillance cameras after he ripped off the Lowe’s store on Nine Mile Road in Pensacola.
The Atmore man is charged with two felony counts of grand theft and a misdemeanor count of petit theft.
Under Florida law, third-degree grand theft occurs when the value of the items stolen is more than $750 but less than $20,000. Petit theft is charged when the amount stolen has a value of less than $750.
According to sheriff’s reports, a retail crimes investigator from Lowe’s told ECSO investigators he had photo and video evidence that Dean “was responsible for a large number of retail thefts from several stores, with three of the thefts in Escambia County (Fla.).”
Those heists happened on three separate occasions in May and June and resulted in the theft of merchandise having a collective value of $5,525.20.
According to Lowe’s investigators, Dean would “simply walk out of stores with merchandise, including power tools, batteries, pipe and other items.”
Sheriff’s reports show that after Lowe’s corporate detectives turned over their evidence to ECSO investigators, a loss prevention officer from the Pensacola store picked Dean from a photo lineup.
The local man was still being held in the Escambia County (Fla.) Jail, under $9,000 total bond, Monday afternoon, July 17.
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