Gainesville Police arrested a Lake City man for stealing shoes, pants and other items totaling $361.50.
Officers arrested 41-year-old Robert Abbott Sunday on the charge of grand theft from the J.C. Penney in the Oaks Mall, according to a police report.
At about 4 p.m., Abbott took seven pieces of clothing and a wallet totaling $202.53 from the store and went into a fitting room with the items, according to the report. He then returned the same items as if they were already purchased.
Abbott used the gift card he received from the return of the eight stolen items to purchase five pairs of shoes totaling $158.97, according to the report.
Abbott was approached by GPD and escorted to the loss prevention office where the 13 items totaling $361.50 were recovered from Abbott’s store bag by a loss prevention witness before the arrival of GPD, according to the report.
During questioning, Abbott said he only took two pairs of pants without paying for them.
Officers booked Abbott into the Alachua County Jail about 6 p.m. on Sunday. He was released Monday at about 12:30 p.m. He was released on his own recognizance.
[A version of this story ran on page 9 on 5/27/2014 under the headline "Man arrested for fraudulent returns"]
