Walmart suffers theft, drugs, fraud in last week

Police nabbed two men stealing from the Walmart store in Maricopa last week and lodged a dozen charges against them — including some for narcotics and fraud. 

Double whammy 

Maricopa Police Department arrested 33-year-old Kyle Brumage last Wednesday after a Walmart employee said he spotted the man leaving the store with a bag full of unpurchased items, according to a probable cause statement obtained by InMaricopa. 

Officers said they found Brumage harboring a host of random merchandise, including candy, clothing, art supplies and hygiene products. Instead of a receipt in the bag, police found blue fentanyl pills.  

Cops lodged shoplifting charges against Brumage and tacked on a count of possessing narcotics — which carries a fine and as much as a decade behind bars. 

He was booked into the Pinal County jail. 

Dipping in the till 

Maricopa police returned to the store Friday to arrest 21-year-old William Maxwell, who they believe stole $950 from cash registers. 

An employee claimed to catch Maxwell on camera siphoning cash from the tills on numerous occasions, according to a probable cause statement. 

Maxwell allegedly admitted to stealing $500 by falsifying transactions. He then changed his tune and lowered the amount stolen to $400, according to police documents. 

Cops did not confirm if he was an employee at Walmart or how he had access to the registers. 

While reviewing security footage from earlier last week, officers said they saw Maxwell stash money from registers into his pocket more than half a dozen times. 

Police arrested Maxwell on seven counts of theft and a count of false reporting — punishable by up to six months in jail each for a total of four years. But the fraud charge is a felony that could land Maxwell with fines and up to a decade in the Pinal County jail. 

A hearing date isn’t yet available.