Shoplifter a repeat offender

A woman ordered by the court to stay away from the Oxford Walmart because of a shoplifting offense returned to the store five days later and repeated the offense landing in court once again.

A police officer was called to the store January 8 on a report of a theft. The officer reviewed store security video showing the woman entering a restroom carrying three packages of bed sheets. When she came back out she was not carrying them but there was reportedly a bulge in the back of her fur-lined coat. She had left the store without paying for the items and the officer confirmed that she had been ordered to stay from the store by Area One County Court Judge Rob Lyons the previous Thursday. She had accepted a plea agreement on that earlier case to accept a guilty finding to disorderly conduct.

The woman denied the theft when questioned, but another woman was found who said she had returned a bed sheet for the woman in exchange for credit. The second woman told police she thought another of the bed sheet sets had been returned to the Hamilton Walmart store.

The husband of the woman who stole the sheets was questioned and he told police he could not find a third set of sheets in their residence, but later called police to say they had been found in a Walmart bag under clothes.

Police again questioned the woman who took them from the store and she admitted the theft and then returned to court on charges of theft and criminal trespass a week after her first case.

Tank drilled to steal gasoline from car

A woman visiting her parents in Oxford had her car towed for repair January 7, thinking the gas tank in her car had sprung a leak when it would not start and she found gasoline on the driveway.

The repair shop called to tell her two holes had been drilled in the tank to drain gasoline from it and police found metal shavings in the driveway where the car had been parked. The report was made to Police January 8 as having occurred sometime in the previous two days.

There are no suspects in the case listed as offenses of criminal damaging and theft.

Police received two other reports of damage to vehicles last week both listed as criminal mischief. They were to a car belonging to a Miami University student and parked on Southpointe Parkway reported January 13 and one owned by a Springfield resident in which a tire was slashed reported on January 11.

Property taken from unlocked car

An Oxford resident told police his wallet, ATM card and cell phone were taken from his unlocked car parked on East High Street at 2 a.m. January 9.

The man told police he was filling out a job application and needed information from his wallet which was in his car. When he went to get it, he found the items missing and the console lid broken.

Thefts were also reported last week from vehicles which had been locked.

Property was reported stolen from the locked trunk of a car in the parking lot of a College Corner Pike apartment complex overnight January 6-7 and another Oxford resident reported his vehicle broken into overnight January 12-13 and items taken.

Walmart employee admits to thefts

A female employee at the Oxford Walmart store admitted to thefts of $100 each from the store last month when Police responded to a complaint by an employee of the store’s loss prevention program.

Police talked to the woman accused of the thefts, one occurring December 1 and the other December 14. The report indicated that she admitted the thefts and apologized. She was cited for two theft offenses and released.

U-turn leads to bigger problems

A male Miami University student was stopped for making an illegal U-turn on East High Street January 13 and that’s when his real troubles began.

That one driving mistake led to four other, more serious, charges being added.

First, he was found to be intoxicated and underage, which led to charges of OVI and Sales to and Use by Underage Persons. Also found in the car were an open container of beer and a small amount of marijuana, which added charges of Open Container Prohibited and Possession of a Controlled Substance. That brought his list of offenses from that one traffic stop to five.