Walmart shopper held over theft of $1,000 worth of goods after staff spot 'fire door' trick

A SHOPPER has been accused of stealing around $1,000 worth of products from Walmart through a bold trick.

On Friday in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 100 miles east of Pittsburgh, the customer, Anthony M. Bonasso, 38, was shopping at the Plank Road Commons location.

The Walmart Asset Protection team took notice of Bonasso early that evening as he was allegedly stacking his cart with high-ticket items at a fast pace, according to an affidavit, per the Altoona Mirror.

He had reportedly grabbed several tents, along with men's clothing accessories and shoes.

Although it was his trip to the electronics section that then raised the eyebrows of the Walmart Asset Protection Team further after he reportedly grabbed headphones and a sound bar and placed them in his cart.

Walmart security claimed he also hid a security camera in his jacket while obtaining a projector, office supplies, and a fire safe.

Additional items included two ceiling fans, furniture slides, and gardening hoses.

At 7.55pm, staff reported a retail theft before Bonasso supposedly attempted to escape the premises with the plethora of merchandise using a not-so-sneaky trick.

Just 10 minutes after the retail theft report was issued, Bonasso allegedly bolted out the fire door by the auto center and attempted to run with the cart of Walmart products to the parking lot.

However, after seeing police arriving on the scene, Bonasso ditched the cart and ran back inside the Walmart, per court documents.

Officers immediately pursued the 38-year-old on foot and caught him after he tripped in an attempt to evade.

The total value of the 42 merchandise items Bonasso allegedly stole totaled $1,721.74, per court documents.

Law enforcement officials also quickly discovered that Bonasso had been trespassing in the Walmart as he had a previous retail theft incident in November 2022.

Bonasso had a total of two prior retail theft convictions before being caught by police last week.

The 38-year-old was arrested and arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Matthew Dunio on Friday for felony charges of retail theft, receiving stolen property, and evading arrest.

Bonasso also faced misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and defiant trespass.

Bail was set at $50,000, but the alleged thief was unable to pay and was instead remanded to Blair County Prison.

His preliminary hearing with Judge Dunio is set for July 6.

ONGOING ISSUE

Retail theft at Walmart has been a continued issue, and CEO Doug McMillon noted a "historic high" in the company's theft numbers back in December.

As The U.S. Sun previously reported, a pair of shoppers in Evansville, Indiana, allegedly used a "cooler trick" to steal around $500 worth of items from a Walmart on Saturday.

The accused thieves, Angel Dean, and April Renshaw, placed stolen goods inside a cooler and then failed to scan the items at a self-checkout kiosk.

An employee said that Dean concealed the stolen goods as Renshaw acted as a lookout, according to an affidavit obtained by local NBC affiliate WFIE.

The pair then allegedly went to a self-checkout machine and did not remove the items from the cooler to be scanned, police say.

When Dean and Renshaw passed the last point of sale, the Walmart worker said he intervened, per authorities.

The worker then reportedly had the two follow him to the store's asset protection office.

Dean and Renshaw stole 29 items worth $493.72, an affidavit said.

For more related content, check out The U.S. Sun's coverage of a Walmart shopper recently accused of stealing $800 worth of merchandise through a "soda trick."

The U.S. Sun also has the story of an alleged thief who scanned three flat-screen televisions for the price of a can of Pepsi at a Walmart self-checkout area.