But, right now you're not free to leave, so I need to ask you. >> Nothing happened. I can pay for it. I can pay for it. You're under arrest, okay? For retail theft. Wow. Yeah. On September 13th, 2025, at a Walmart store in Illinois, a routine shopping visit quickly turned into a criminal case after loss prevention officers flagged suspicious activity at the self-checkout lane. Surveillance footage captured Breanna Thomas scanning and paying for select items while deliberately leaving a separate set of merchandise loose underneath the cart. Never brought to the scanner at all. The concealed items, clothing, sippy cups, paper towels, and assorted general goods, totaled $171.53. Thomas paid the visible portion using EBT and a debit card. So, what are you doing? Good. Is there anything there? Uh so, she's right here. Um but yeah, I was actually getting video for loss prevention. >> Good to see you, by the way. >> Hey, likewise. How are you? Good. Yeah, so Hello. >> Hi, ma'am. How are you? >> I'm pretty okay. Good. Boyfriend, okay. Cool. We get her identified yet or no? Uh yeah. What's your name, young lady? Oh, he already wrote everything down. Okay. >> Oh, you have to do it, too? I got Yeah, this is my town, my town. Okay. Okay. I don't want to go all the way in there. I'm like claustrophobic. >> Okay. I don't want to be all the way in there. All right. So, I got to talk to them, but right now you're not free to leave, so I need it for my report. That's why. I'm for safety. Okay. So, because you're not free to go, okay? >> Okay, thank you. >> No, you are not free to go. Why? Because hang on, I got to What room? I just got here. I know you've been here a while, but I'm I'm the investigating officer, you young lady. Come on, bear with me. I got to find out what what happened. Nothing happened. They They're saying I didn't pay for all of my items. Okay, and that's why I'm here. All right? All right, having these rights in mind, do you wish to talk to me? No. No, we took her out. I have to leave. Good. The owner's actually out. >> Um so, I was alerted by the self-checkout host that she had all the food that was scanned sorry. and she was beginning to pay. There was a whole bunch of stuff that was not on the receipt. >> Okay. That she didn't even attempt to scan. Okay. And then we watched the item run it back and she didn't attempt to scan that. Okay. She paid $94.80 out of a $100 bill and $5 on her debit card. $5 on her debit? Okay. How much stuff is it over there? It's probably like a if not 100 a little bit What is Is that also food or not? No, it's not. Okay. It's general merchandise like shoes, clothes, sippy cups, paper towels. And who alerted you? A worker that works at the self-checkout. What do you guys want to do? Prosecute. Okay. And trespass. Okay. Cuz she was not cooperative. While she tried to snatch the cart away from me, I said to come out and Trespass at the final point of sale? Yeah, when I stopped her in the vestibule on the exit side, I asked her for her receipt. She gave me this one. I looked at it, glanced at it. I said, "Do you have another one?" She told me no. I said, "Do you want to come Do you come back with me so we can talk about the unpaid for merchandise?" She told no. So I'm I'm trying to bring her back around this way. She got like five, six kids with her, so I'm not trying to, you know, Trying to make a scene? Yeah. Okay. Then when she seen Elkhart PD, then she was like, "Oh, you want to go over here?" Like, "Yeah, I've been asking you to do that." Sure. Okay. Then she want to argue with me about paying for it. Well, you could I could pay for it. I could pay for it. You could, but you didn't. It's not like nobody else run you up. You made this choice. Perfect. All right. So obviously you don't want to talk to me. So we got to hammer out some things. We're waiting on the receipt and that's going to determine what happens with you next. Okay? Okay. All right. Anything in that purse? No. Okay. Oh my god. Let me in the back. I don't know. Okay. All right. Just spread them really quick. I'm going to put it right here, okay? Okay. Can you just turn around for your put your handcuffs on real quick? Oh, wait. You're going to search me now? Yeah. Put your hands behind your back. Put your hands behind your back. So, what's going on now? >> I'm going to let you take a look. Why am I in handcuffs? Is this all the stuff? Actually, you might take it out to my car. Yeah, that's fine. Thank you. At the final point of sale, loss prevention intercepted Thomas in the store vestibule and requested a receipt covering all cart contents. She denied having a second receipt and refused to return inside the store. Thomas briefly pulled the shopping cart away from loss prevention staff when asked to cooperate. She began complying only after uniformed police officers arrived on scene and confirmed she was not free to leave. Under Illinois compiled statutes 720 ILCS 5/16-25, retail theft is defined as knowingly concealing merchandise with intent to deprive a retailer of its full value. The offense is complete even before exiting. Illinois law places this case in the class A misdemeanor range, which applies to unpaid merchandise valued under $300 and carries a maximum of 1 year in county jail and a $2,500 fine. Under the Illinois Merchant Privilege Act 740 ILCS 57/1, loss prevention officers are authorized to detain a suspected shoplifter for a reasonable time when probable cause based on observed conduct exists. Upon police arrival, officers delivered a full Miranda advisement per Miranda versus Arizona 1966. Thomas invoked her right to remain silent, a constitutionally protected decision that cannot be treated as evidence of guilt. Following the arrest determination, officers searched Thomas's purse. Under Chimel versus California, 1969, searching a person and their immediate area incident to a lawful custodial arrest requires no separate warrant. The handcuffing of Thomas was assessed under Graham versus Connor, 1989, which requires force to be objectively reasonable from the officer's perspective at that moment. Given her compliance, the restraint level was proportional. Two marked one female custody. So, this is all the stuff that she didn't pay for? That's right. Okay. Hey, you Did you observe any of this or you pulled up >> I walked up, I observed that she had all this stuff underneath. >> Underneath the cart. So, she had stuff that she had paid for on top in bags. Was this stuff bagged or no? No. No, not bagged. >> bagged. So, basically, just picture all this stuff with on top of it. >> Got it. Makes sense. Okay. So, then you stop or you ask for another receipt. She's like, "Nah." She's kind of giving you a hard time. She's kind of being uncooperative. Sees Elmer's, Starts freaking out. Freaks out a little bit and then you guys call us. And then she told her kids to get to some van or something. >> Yeah, there's a van right there. Okay. I'll be right back, okay? Thanks, guys. You guys have a female working or not? Uh we do. You want to have her meet you at the station? You're under arrest, okay? For retail theft. Wow. Yeah. You want me to call my boss or call my dad? >> Yeah. It's just a little too high, okay? It was like $184 worth of stuff, so a little too high for for a ticket. Okay? Okay. All right. We'll go back to the station as long as you got no other record You got no record? You're saying you got no record? Then uh you'll be cut loose within an hour. Okay? Uh these are still tight. I put them real loose now. They're really tight though. On my wrist You didn't loosen the wrist part. That's what's tight. Thank you. We're not too far from the police. Can I I need to fix my clothes. My My shirt is falling. Um so what she kept saying What did she say? She's like, "Man, I'll pay for whatever I didn't take. Uh blah blah blah." So >> So that's what she kept saying kind of to you and to them. Yep, pretty much. >> Okay. Okay, with you present? >> Yeah. Okay, cool. Thank you. So I'll pay for whatever I didn't pay for or something so forth. >> Exactly. Exactly. And she said um the boyfriend is like, "Oh, you kind of like help her a little." like, "Oh, you might have done that by accident, right?" She's like, "Yeah, cuz I have all the kids." Okay. Yeah. Let me go take a picture of the stuff and the receipts and Um Yeah. You mind saying what time to tell her to come back? Thank you, sir. Police. All right, let me take this is the receipt. Did she pay for this? Yeah. She paid for this. Yes. Can she come back and get it or how how do you guys want to do that? Though her man left already. Did she pay with EBT? And she's trespassed. So I guess we just got free food. Thank you. Yeah, please. And then my email, I'll send you guys an axon link, too. Just double it up so we can get it to work, okay? >> got a way to send the whole report through you to Aura, so we'll check that out. Okay. I'm all new to this. I'm new to day shift, so if you guys know the the shindig, I'm all in. All right. >> That's how we'll work together. Thanks, guys. Appreciate you guys. Oh, okay, cool. Thank you. Oh, this is the receipt. Should they take Did they take the food back there? No. Thanks. Thank you. Yeah. What's up? You're going to the PB. You're going to charge one charge one count of retail theft. I'm going to keep it moving, okay? All right. No, we just gave it to your uh uh to your man. No, it's not the card. You paid for it. It was refunded back to the card. No, no, no. He just picked it up. Oh. Yeah. So, you don't want to waste that. You know what I mean? You paid for that. You know what I mean? So, and they can't I don't think they can refund EBT. You know what I mean? What the hell's wrong with this thing? Here it is. I know. I know, but it's just protocol. You know what I mean, young lady? So, the total for the stuff, I'm just telling you, is uh $171. For for the stuff that you didn't pay for. It's a little bit above the threshold here. Doesn't mean felony, but I do have to check your priors. And if you're saying you got none, then then we shouldn't have any issues. All right. Let me uh Can I pull my shirt up? Well, this female officer will help you out with that. Sorry, I didn't know. Here, I'm going to get your seatbelt out of the way. I didn't see it. Where'd you put it? I know I grabbed it. Uh did you put it in the bag by any chance? Okay. Her man, okay. Okay, it's cool. You You can walk up the ramp. Thank you. Right this ramp right here. Yeah. Your man, uh what's your dude's name? Uh do you have the dude's name? No, but I'm just going to address him. I'll just call him dude. Yeah. The investigating officer correctly ceased all questioning after Thomas invoked her Miranda rights. Building the case entirely on surveillance footage, physical evidence from the cart, and loss prevention testimony, the store elected to prosecute and issued Thomas a permanent trespass notice. Items she had legitimately paid for were released to her partner at the scene. EBT benefits already used could not be refunded by the store. Breanna Thomas was formally charged with one count of retail theft under Illinois law. With no prior criminal record, she was eligible for supervision or conditional discharge rather than incarceration at sentencing. Lesson one, retail surveillance is comprehensive and continuous. Self-checkout concealment, placing paid items on top of unscanned goods, is one of the most frequently identified patterns in loss prevention training. Lesson two, initial resistance escalates consequences. Thomas's refusal to return inside in the cart pull were documented in the police report, directly influencing the store's decision to pursue full prosecution. Lesson three, invoking constitutional rights is always the correct move. Thomas appropriately exercised her Fifth Amendment right to silence after Miranda. Volunteering statements post-advisement rarely benefits a suspect. Lesson four, dollar value is the dividing line under Illinois law. Merchandise totaling $300 or more triggers a class three felony carrying two to five years in the Department of Corrections. What began as a self-checkout shortcut ended with a criminal charge, a court date, and a permanent store ban. Surveillance evidence and loss prevention documentation left little room for legal ambiguity in this case.