Wesley Chapel Woman Busted for Stealing Cabinet Knobs
She said she had anxiety issues that make her commit retail theft, according to an arrest report.
A Wesley Chapel woman was arrested Thursday after deputies say she put four cabinet knobs in her pocket and four in her purse before walking out of a Home Depot store.
According to a Pasco County arrest report, Moraima Martinez-Heredia, 53, was stopped by loss prevention and brought back to the Wesley Chapel store after she was observed taking the knobs past all points of sale.
Martinez-Heredia told the store's loss prevention officer that she has problems with depression and anxiety, which manifest in retail theft, the report stated.
She has a prior felony grand theft conviction and a misdemeanor theft conviction, both out of Hillsborough County, according to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office.
The total value of the knobs was $30.32, the arrest report stated.
Martinez-Heredia was charged with retail theft Jan. 31. She remained in the Land O' Lakes jail Friday on an immigration hold, according to the sheriff's office website.
rcarol
4:37 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
I think retail theft occurs because 1.) you want or need something and can't afford to pay for it, or 2.) you can afford it but feel it's better to get it for free (thinking Lindsay Lohan). I doubt that depression enters into the equation.
Joy Kobasko
10:08 pm on Sunday, February 3, 2013
We don't know this woman's past criminal history. If this is the first time she's been caught at it, then her explanation isn't particularly credible...but frequent shoplifters (being arrested many times for the exact same thing) indicates a problem.
There's something wrong with a shoplifter's wiring. They're not necessarily crazy or easy to label as mentally ill, but they have a problem, and mandatory behavioral therapy is one way to break that downward spiral.