POLK COUNTY, Fla. – A Winter Haven man was caught stealing over $3,900 worth of goods at two different Lowe’s, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said Charles Levin, 62, stole from the two stores on four separate occasions throughout August and October.
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According to the sheriff’s office, Levin loaded a cart on Aug. 29 with over $550 worth of goods at a Winter Haven Lowe’s and tried leaving the store without paying. He was stopped by asset protection at Lowe’s, but he was released and left the store, officials said.
On Oct. 5, Levin was seen again by asset protection loading $428 worth of stolen power tools into a white SUV, but he fled the parking lot before he could be stopped, deputies said.
The sheriff’s office said security footage from asset protection showed Levin on Oct. 21 attaching a $969 stolen trailer to a white SUV at an Auburndale Lowe’s and also used the trailer to steal a lawn mower worth $2,000.
On his last spree, Levin was arrested by the Winter Haven police on Oct. 29 after trying to steal a generator and a rug from the Winter Haven Lowe’s, but he was out on bond the next day, deputies said.
Asset protection contacted the Polk County Sheriff’s Organized Retail Crime Unit started an investigation that ultimately led to Levin’s arrest on Nov. 9.
“We work hand-in-hand with asset protection and loss prevention personnel at stores all over the county. They are the eyes and ears in the stores, giving us the information we need to make cases against organized retail crime,” Sheriff Grady Judd said in a release.
Levin’s record includes 34 felonies, 47 misdemeanors, five stints at the state prison along with three prior convictions for theft in 1990, 1995 and 2001.