Photo: Flagler County Sheriff's Office
A Florida woman who admitted to shoplifting over $1,000 in merchandise from a store claims she was playing a "game" in newly-released body camera footage. On March 27, the Flagler County Sheriff's Office posted a video of 30-year-old Amber Cann, of Sanford, trying to explain why she committed the crimes.
Deputies responded to a Walmart in Palm Coast on March 25 after getting a report about a suspected shoplifter. Officials claim a woman was spotted walking out of the store with a "cart full of items" while refusing to pay or show a receipt. A witness told deputies they spotted the suspect placing the stolen goods inside a vehicle. She allegedly fled on foot after noticing someone watching her.
Authorities found a woman matching the suspect's description walking back to the car in the parking lot. The woman, identified as Mann, confessed to loading a shopping cart full of stolen merchandise, according to the sheriff's office. Officials claim she took an estimated $1,030 worth of goods from the Walmart.
Mann told deputies she stole the merchandise because she was playing a game called "21," where someone grabs as many items from a store and tries to leave without paying or getting caught.
“Well, I did it one other time and this time, but I got caught this time,” McCann says in the body camera footage. “So now, I’ve gotta figure out where my purse is and where my merchandise is because now, I’ve gotta give all my merchandise back to Walmart.”
“Well, it’s not really a game,” a deputy retorts.
“It is a game!” McCann said.
“To you,” the deputy tells the suspect. “That’s theft.”
“It’s — it’s — it’s fun, too. It’s really fun!” McCann replies.
The sheriff's office said they also found several bags containing substances inside McCann's vehicle, including marijuana, alprazolam, and drugs testing positive for methamphetamine. Deputies also discovered a locked safe containing silver bars and rounds, copper bars, and a platinum bar. A digital scale, hashish, a glass pipe, and empty baggies were reportedly recovered, as well.
McCann was arrested and booked into jail for a slew of charges, including shoplifting, drug possession, and drug paraphernalia. As of Monday (April 1), she remains in custody on a $34,000 bond.
"If she really thought she was playing a shoplifting game, she lost to our deputies and observant citizens," Sheriff Rick Staly said in the news release. "She may have skipped the checkout lane at Walmart, but she went through the express check-in at the Green Roof Inn with a free set of designer bracelets—aka handcuffs."