A clerk at a Winn-Dixie supermarket in The Villages has been sentenced to jail time after committing 27 thefts from the store.
Victoria Lynn Battista, 54, of Summerfield, entered a plea of guilty in the case on Tuesday in Sumter County Court. She was sentenced to 10 days in the Sumter County Detention Center.
The New York native had been working in the self-checkout area of the store at Lake Sumter Landing in January, February and March when the thefts occurred, according to an incident report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. Battista would wait until the end of her shift and would hold two items in her hand, but scan only one of them. She would quickly bag the items.
In the first incident on Jan. 14, she stole Kinder Joy Candy valued at $5.49. She took mostly Kinder Joy Candy and cookies in the bulk of the incidents. However, by one of her final thefts on March 25, she took a total of nine items, including mini marshmallows, baking pecans, cake mix, vanilla extract, a candy bar, two Panteen soaps and Panteen face scrub. All of the incidents were caught on store surveillance.
When she was shown the surveillance, Battista offered to pay the store back for the items she had stolen. However, a manager refused the offer. The total value of the stolen items was $270.22.
