A shoplifting suspect has been tracked down after fleeing the Walmart at Buffalo Ridge Plaza in The Villages.
Justin Kane Wachter, 29, of Wildwood, was arrested Tuesday by Sumter County sheriff’s deputies on a charge of felony theft.
He had been caught on surveillance in January leaving the store with stolen merchandise, including two tubs of ice cream and whipped cream, according to an arrest report. After he left the store, he refused to cooperate with store personnel who attempted to detain him. He got into the passenger side of waiting silver Volkswagen sedan. He had ditched the stolen items outside the store.
Wachter has previous theft convictions in New York and Florida, thus elevating this charge to a felony. He was taken into custody and booked at the Sumter County Detention Center. Bond was set at $2,000.
Wachter had been arrested with drugs in 2019 during a traffic stop in The Villages.
