NAPLES, Fla. — A Naples man was arrested after being accused of stealing multiple items totaling at $1,095 from Costco by switching bar codes.
On June 1, the Collier County Sheriff's Office was informed by Costco's Loss Prevention that a man was caught on camera committing theft at the store.
The first surveillance dated April 29, showed that a man identified as Robert Mendoza Correa, 38, was seen tampering with a generator box that was put in his cart. While 'tampering' with the box, the footage shows that Mendoza Correa switched the generator's UPC bar code with a vacuum cleaner's UPC bar code. According to CCSO, the generator was $800 and the vacuum was $100.
Surveillance from May 3rd shows Mendoza Correa tampering with a $300 toothbrush and a $160 digital picture frame. At checkout, the items were charged as $40 toothbrush heads and $26 razors.
On May 28 surveillance camera caught him tampering with a speaker box, a security camera, and a Nano Leaf. Costco's staff approached Mendoza Correa and he said that he did not want the speaker or Nano Leaf anymore and that he would only pay for the speaker.
When the security camera and Nano Leaf were scanned, CCSO says it rang up as Udon noodle bowls valued at $20.
July 23, 2022, Mendoza Correa was detained and confirmed he was the man on Costco's surveillance footage but said he did not steal anything.
He is now facing charges of grand theft and taken to Naples Jail Center.
