Joshua Whorley told police he stole because he “needed the money”, but he also needed a custom magnet to unlock the shelf holding the PlayStation games – so he made one, and brought with him to Walmart Wednesday, where he was arrested, and his case was completed less than 24-hours later.
Jazzaine McKinnie is one of Walmart’s best loss prevention folks, and though may not have heard her name specifically, we’ve covered a lot of her shoplifter apprehensions over the years. Jazz was working at the 3458 Dickerson Pike store the morning of May 8th, when she observed a man, later identified as 30-year-old Joshua Whorley, using a device to remove PlayStation games from a locking shelf, opening the cases, and concealing the discs on his person. He then headed for the doors, where he was confronted by McKinnie, but he fled the area.
Metro Police was already en route, and arrived to the location just as Whorley was coming from the parking lot onto Doverside Drive, where he was detained and returned to the store, where a positive identification was made. Police say Whorley admitted to stealing because he “needed money”. A search of Whorley recovered $152.45 worth of merchandise, and a home made magnetic device used to defeat the locking mechanism on the shelves.
Whorley was charged with criminal trespass, as the store had a signed trespass waiver him signed in May of 2018, during a previous incident. He was also charged with theft, and possession of a merchandise theft tool. He was taken into custody and booked, and during court Thursday morning, Whorley took an immediate plea offer during his first appearance, where the trespass and theft tool charges were dropped by the ADA, and he plead guilty to theft, and received a 9 month sentence, all of it suspended, no probation, and $351 in court costs, at which time he was released from custody.
