54-year old Stephen Bruno was seen putting a set of bed sheets into his cart at a Walmart store in Ocala, Florida. Loss prevention employees followed him as his shoplifted them out of the store to his vehicle in the parking lot. When they confronted Bruno, the man showed them a handgun he had tucked into his waist, with his hand on the weapon. The employees then backed away and he pushed the cart with the sheets at them, then drove away.
After his later arrest, Bruno claimed that he had been replacing the sheets with others and didn't want to wait in the customer service line, and that he "the wind" had inadvertently exposed his gun.
From an article:
Two loss prevention officers at the store at 2600 SE 19th Ave. Road, Ocala, told Ocala police officer Andrew Ritz on Tuesday they saw a man with a receipt in his hand pick up a tan sheet set and place it in a cart, which contained other items. He pushed the cart to customer service and waited about a minute and left the store with the sheet set, which they thought he taken without paying for it, a report states.
Store officials followed the man, Stephen Bruno, 54, outside and identified themselves as loss prevention officers and asked him to come inside. They said Bruno ignored them and began loading items from the shopping cart into a green Honda minivan, the report notes.
They said they insisted Bruno accompany them inside and he pulled his shirt back and they could see a firearm in his waistband. They said he put his hand over the firearm and told them he was not going with them and threw the sheet set into the shopping cart and pushed it toward them, the report states.
Fearing Bruno might use the weapon, the loss prevention officers said, they left the parking lot and he got into the vehicle and drove away. ....
Bruno said the wind was blowing his shirt around so he held his shirt down next to the firearm. He said he wasn’t sure if his hand was over his firearm or not, but he did tell them he was not going inside.
Walmart. Save money. Die faster.Bruno was arrested and taken to the Marion County Jail, from which he has since been released on $60,000 bond.
