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Walmart Motorized Cart Arrest Goes Viral: Josseleen Lopez Drank Shoplifted Wine And Dined On Sushi During Cruise In Florida Store

By Tara Dodrill
Published on: 03:29 PST, Dec 28, 2015

A woman was arrested for driving around a Florida Walmart in a motorized cart while eating snacks and drinking booze she had pilfered while cruising through the Lecanto big box store. Josseleen Lopez, 25, was arrested on both theft and drug paraphernalia charges after the incident that shocked both customers and employees.

Josseleen Lopez allegedly stuck a needle containing crystal meth into her veins before climbing aboard the Walmart motorized cart and taking off inside the store. In the cart attached to the handicap accessible scooter, police officers found an empty wine bottle and opened packages of cinnamon rolls, mini muffins, and rotisserie chicken, USA Today reports. A store employee told police investigators that he noticed Lopez acting “suspiciously” as she maneuvered through the store, so he kept an eye on her and ultimately alerted his boss, and the police were called.

Citrus County Sheriff’s Office deputies also found three empty syringes when they escorted her off the Walmart motorized cart and placed handcuffs on her wrists on December 22. Lecanto Walmart store managers called the police and reported that the Florida woman was being held until they arrived, and said that she had consumed $32.36 worth of wine and snacks that she had shoplifted while riding the powered shopping cart.

Josseleen Lopez reportedly told the Citrus County deputies that she was both homeless and hungry. How much money she spent to acquire the crystal meth remains unknown. Lopez also claimed that she did not want to take any of the chicken, snack food, and wine outside of the store and made a point of saying that she did consume all of the items while still in Walmart — exactly why Josseleen felt the location of the consumption of the consumed items would matter to store managers or police officers also remains unknown.

The woman, who has been dubbed “Walmart girl” on social media, reportedly told law enforcement officers that while she knew that her actions inside the store were wrong, she chose to do them anyway.

While the Walmart girl story about the woman drinking wine and eating while wheeling about in a motorized shopping cart has gone viral and attracted nationwide headlines, it is definitely not the only unusual crime or incident that has happened at the chain of discount retail stores.

According to a Business Insider roundup of weird Walmart crimes, a man high on synthetic pot set off fireworks in a Gainesville, Florida, store in 2013 — no one was injured during the incident. Another only at Walmart incident also involved another woman on a motorized device. A Tennessee woman reportedly rode a motorized scooter with a cart attached on the back inside a Walmart store and then cruised away with a stolen flat screen television in tow.

A Vice report indicates that about half of the crime which occurs in Port Richey, Florida, happens at Walmart. From February, 2014, through February, 2015, a grant total of 46 percent of the crime reported in the Sunshine State town happened at the local Walmart store, according to police chief Robert Lovering.

“We’re there two times a day. Sometimes more. On a bad day we can be there four, five, six times easily,” the Port Richey police chief added. “Last year [2014] we only had 13 burglaries in the whole year. If you take the Walmart thefts out of the equation, our numbers are minuscule.”

What do you think about the Walmart motorized cart shoplifting spree and arrest of Josseleen Lopez?

[Image via Nilco/Shutterstock]

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