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Surveillance Shows Man Taking Pop After Store Check-Out

POSTED: 4:31 pm EDT April 9, 2008
UPDATED: 9:56 am EDT April 10, 2008

A local man's claim that he forgot to pay for a case of Pepsi that was at the bottom of his shopping cart has been discredited because of some surveillance tape.

The man who claimed he is not a thief is now saying that he lied, NewsChannel5 reported.

On Monday, NewsChannel5 first brought you the story of Tom Sturgis, a self-professed innocent man who seemingly made an honest mistake.

On a recent stop at Giant Eagle in Brooklyn, Sturgis said he went through the self-checkout lane. He bought $157 worth of groceries but said he forgot to include several cans of Pepsi he had underneath his cart.

Outside, police arrested him for shoplifting.

His story drew outrage and sympathy across the city, and it even got Sturgis on the radio Wednesday morning.

But since then, the truth has exploded. Brooklyn police gave NewsChannel5 surveillance video of Sturgis at the Giant Eagle the day of his arrest.

Police said Sturgis is shown with his stepson, who was bagging the groceries at the checkout line.

But the video shows nothing beneath the cart. Sturgis paid for the groceries in the cart, but police said as he left the store, he stopped at the pop display in the vestibule, loading his cart with Pepsi.

He then left without paying for the new additions to his cart, police said.

Brooklyn Chief Mark Tenaglia said that security video shows Sturgis using a self-checkout with no items on the bottom of his cart.

Tenaglia said a second video camera shows Sturgis loading six 12-packs of Pepsi into his cart before he exited the store. The total value of the soda was $21.54 with tax.

Sturgis was arrested and charged with petty theft.

He told NewsChannel5, "It was a total lie. I did try to steal the Pepsi at Giant Eagle." Sturgis also said that he plans to plead guilty at his arraignment.





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