Pair accused of stealing from Hartselle Walmart 14 times
For the Enquirer
An Andalusia man accused of cooperating with a woman to steal from the Hartselle Walmart 14 times between March and May was arrested Tuesday, according to a Hartselle police affidavit.
Dakota Ty Anderson, 25, is charged with organized retail theft and was released early Wednesday from the Morgan County Jail on a $5,000 bond, jail records show.
“Anderson entered the Hartselle Walmart and used barcodes for cheaper items to scan in place of more expensive items with the aid of a female subject for a total of $1,004.97 in fourteen different thefts between March 14 and May 11,” reads the affidavit signed Tuesday by an investigator.
Court and jail records showed no charges yet filed against the woman accused in the affidavit of assist ing Anderson and using her credit card to pay for the false totals at self-check out kiosks.
Hartselle police met with a Walmart loss preven-tion associate at the business, located at 1201 U.S. 31 S.W., on May 20. The store turned over documentation and surveillance footage to investigators, according to the affidavit.
Investigators said Anderson’s white truck was seen entering Walmart’s parking lot before nearly every theft, and he and the woman were identified by Walmart staff in two separate photo lineups.
The state Legislature last year implemented tougher penalties for stealing from retailers. Organized retail theft is a Class B felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
