‘Clever’ Shoplifter Tries Paying for Some Of Stuff at Self-Checkout

Shoplifting certainly isn't a new crime. But this type is.

A 32-year-old Kennewick man is facing charges after he allegedly tried to 'mix and match' paid and unpaid items at the self-checkout at Winco Foods on Clearwater in Kennewick.

Jerome D. Jones was caught the other night by a sharp-eyed clerk, the one who oversees the self-checkout area.

Jones allegedly scanned only some of the items. According to police he tried to make it 'look' like he scanned everything. Apparently the clerk noticed he hadn't.  Police were called after he'd been detained and now he's in jail.

Reminds us of the scene from the movie "Employee Of The Month," where Vince, the 'evil' checker, tries to cheat in the speed competition by passing items behind his back to his bagger without scanning them.

I am surprised he didn't get nabbed by their checkout machine. It's got that abrasive female voice which always seems to say "unexpected item in bagging area" at the top of her digital lungs!  We shop there often.  Usually when it does that to us, it's because our youngest child Harley decides to plunk her fanny where the bagged groceries go.