Shoplifting Call Turns Into More For Newport Police

Saturday a call to police about a shoplifter at the Newport Wal-Mart turned into an organized retail crime arrest. The loss prevention officer at Wal-Mart told police he had observed a man self-check a Cricut Maker 3 and a Cricut Cupid. The man wearing a NY Yankees ball cap rang the items up using the UPC codes for 25 cent school supplies…ringing up $508 of merchandise as just 55 cents. The loss prevention officer watched the man get into the back seat of a white Dodge Dart with a temporary tag. He told police the vehicle had left the parking lot and headed towards Lowes where police found a vehicle with that description sporting a temporary tag from South Carolina. Police followed that car and made a traffic stop on south Hwy 321. The man in the Yankees ball cap was seated in the back seat… A man and woman in the front seat. Inside police found the receipt from Wal-Mart for 55 cents and the Cricut machine and accessory were in the trunk…along with 2 apple tv devices and 2 digital storage devices. valued at $600. A cell phone was found in the center console opened to a Wal-Mart finder app….looking for Wal-Marts in North Carolina. The man in the back seat was identified as 29 year old Max Michaelson who had been spotted shoplifting items from Wal-Mart locations in Georgia earlier in the week….the other two individuals were 27 year old Felicia Curlee and 35 year old William Rawson. All three were suspected of conspiring to commit the thefts from Wal-Mart stores. Drug paraphernalia was also found in the vehicle…all three individuals were arrested on numerous charges.