A 16-year-old Galesburg boy was finally caught on Friday afternoon after stealing from Walmart half a dozen times. Galesburg Police were dispatched to Walmart around 4:30 pm on Friday where the teen suspect had already departed the store in a pick-up truck. Officers stopped the truck near the intersection of North Seminary Street and East Fremont. The teen told police he had just left Walmart, but didn’t have a receipt for his purchase. He then gave police consent to search the truck where the other stolen items were located. Police reviewed security video at the store where the boy stole over $45 worth of items back on December 23rd, nearly $60 worth of goods on December 26th, $100 worth of goods on January 5th, over $100 worth of items on January 25th, and over $64 worth of items on Friday, February 3rd. The boy was placed under arrest and transported to the Public Safety Building for juvenile processing and was then processed at the Knox County Jail. The teen was charged with retail theft and released to his mother.
Galesburg Police on Sunday afternoon responded to Walmart in reference to a report of retail theft. Officers met with asset protection employees who said a white male subject attempted to commit a return fraud. The 54-year-old man attempted to return a tool – but the box was missing one of the pieces to the tool. The man then went to the aisle where the tool came from, opened another box and took the missing piece from that box and tried to return it. Employees denied the transaction and with police present, he was banned from the store. Dispatch then informed police the man has a valid Knox County warrant for a variety of traffic offenses. He was placed under arrest and transported to the Knox County Jail.
