TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Two people were arrested for theft at the Belk Department store after one of them received a refund for an item they had not bought, police said.
Jody Len Brant, 48, and Sandra Cresong Tumbleston, 50, both of Lake Placid, Florida, were seen entering the Belk Department Store on Wednesday with no merchandise on their persons, a probable cause affidavit said.
The store's loss prevention officer told a Tallahassee Police Department investigator that Tumbleston selected a bed comforter on the second floor and then met Brant on the first floor.
Brant and Tumbleston then went to the second floor to a register.
There Tumbleston placed the unpaid bed comforter on the counter and requested to return it without a receipt, the court document said.
Brandt handed the Belk employee his identification for the return.
After the Belk employee collected Brant's information and handed Tumbleston a gift card for $107.50, the loss prevention officer stopped Brant and Tumbleston and escorted them back to the loss prevention office.
Officers on scene found Tumbleston's vehicle and saw possible stolen property from Belk in plain sight.
Searching the vehicle the next day, an investigator recovered the property. Then, that day, Tumbleston and Brant were charged with dealing in stolen property.
Both people remained in the Leon County Detention Center on Monday.
Brant had a $5,750 bond. Tumbleston, who is wanted on a Polk County warrant for failure to appear, had a listed bond of $750.
