Florida police officer arrested, accused of stealing from Walmart on 5 occasions

Officer, woman worked together to steal hundreds in merchandise, deputies say

David Griffin, 48, and Shelbi Dubose, 28 (Copyright 2023 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

POLK COUNTY, Fla. – A Haines City police officer was caught on Saturday working with a woman to rip off a Walmart, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies arrested David Griffin, 48, and Shelbi Dubose, 28, at a Walmart store on 6745 Church Avenue North in Mulberry on Saturday.

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Investigators said Griffin was employed as a Haines City officer but resigned immediately after his arrest.

According to a news release, Griffin and Dubois were spotted by a Walmart employee as they were bagging up items they had not scanned. Deputies said the employee pointed out to them that they had not scanned some items. The pair scanned the items, but once the employee left they continued to load their bags without scanning, records show.

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The two were stopped by Walmart loss prevention, according to the release. Deputies said Griffin and Dubose had scanned and paid for about $207 worth of merchandise but had bagged more than $343 worth of goods without scanning them.

Investigators said they pulled security footage and looked into Griffin’s debit card history and found that he had pulled a similar scheme on four other dates starting in October. Dubose was present on three of the four other occasions.

Griffin faces five counts of retail petit theft while Dubose faces four counts of the same charge.

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About the Author

Thomas Mates is a digital storyteller for News 6 and ClickOrlando.com. He also produces the podcast Florida Foodie. Thomas is originally from Northeastern Pennsylvania and worked in Portland, Oregon before moving to Central Florida in August 2018. He graduated from Temple University with a degree in Journalism in 2010.

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