This Week’s Wacky Wednesday: Florida Man Fakes Heart Attack in Walmart to Help Theft
Right from the title, you know this is going to be an interesting one. There are two elements of this story that are magic when it comes to weird cases. It happened in Florida and it involved Walmart. This is a story that happened several years ago, but it is still interesting enough that it can be revisited and enjoyed. Let’s get a closer look at what happened here.
A Plan that Can’t Fail
Sometimes, you want some toys and you can’t afford them. Typically, this happens with kids and not adults, as in this case. Tarus Scott, 30, and Genard Dupree, 27, were the two adults in question, loaded up two carts with more than $400 worth of toys, including a Power Wheels Barbie car. As they were getting close to the exit with the unpaid for toys, Scott suddenly grabbed his chest. To onlookers, it appeared as if he was having a heart attack. As you would imagine, this is going to garner a lot of attention. All eyes turned to Scott, who they believed was suffering from a heart attack.
People were likely concerned and wondered what they might be able to do to help. It would also cause a hubbub in the store, and people would not be looking or paying attention to other things that were happening.
When this happened, Dupree fled the store with all of the toys and the loaded them into his car. In addition to the Power Wheels car, they also stole a Barbie playset and a Leapfrog Tablet.
It turns out the cameras were not as concerned about the heart attack and caught everything that happened. After Dupree left, Scott hopped up, miraculously cured, and took off, getting into the same car as Dupree. After they fled, they likely assumed that they had gotten away with the crime. Since it was on video, though, it was easy to get an identification for both of the men.
The Trouble It Brought
It did not take long at all for both of these suspects to be picked up by the police. They were arrested a short time later and were charged with grand theft. While that might seem like a serious charge for a bunch of toys, the law in Florida says that any theft where the property is valued at $300 to $20,000 is grand theft in the third degree. This means that these men faced a larger punishment, as it is considered to be a felony.
To make matters even worse for them, both of them have prior criminal records, and Scott had only recently gotten out of prison after having served 10 years in prison. Because of prior convictions, criminals often receive enhanced sentences.
It is unknown whether they were trying to steal the toys so that they could sell them or give them to children in their family. Regardless, what seemed like it might not be too serious of a crime for them turned out to be quite serious indeed. If they were stealing to give to a child, as might have been the case, it’s sad, but it also comes with a lesson. Even though you might not have the money you need, stealing is not the right answer because it can lead to so many more problems. Of course, they might also have just wanted to use the toys to sell online, so they could get cash. They might not have realized that it was going to be considered grand theft.