A 37-year-old Lady Lake man was arrested after he allegedly stuffed six pairs of socks down his pants and snatched a Monster Energy Drink on Friday afternoon at Wal-Mart at Buffalo Ridge Plaza in The Villages.
A Sumter County sheriff’s deputy was flagged down at 1:41 p.m. by the store’s loss prevention officer who pointed the deputy in the direction of Ronald James Caudill, who was sitting in the passenger seat of a Toyota Tundra in the store’s parking lot. Caudill admitted to the deputy he had made a “stupid mistake,” and that he had stuffed the six-pack of socks into the groin area of his pants, according to an arrest report. Caudill had handed the energy drink back to the loss prevention officer who had attempted to detain him.
The socks and energy drink had a total value of $11.86.
A criminal history check revealed that Caudill has a half dozen prior theft convictions.
He was arrested on a felony charge of theft and booked at the Sumter County Detention Center on $2,000 bond.
