Shoplifting Incident at WalMart

Chattooga County Sheriff’s Deputies were called to Wal-Mart last week after the store reported that two people were involved in a shoplifting incident.  The sheriff’s department was able to identify the suspect thanks to social media profiles.

Store employees said that the offender was a younger-looking white male wearing a blue ball cap and a blue T-shirt.  On surveillance video, the man can be seen pushing a buggy around the store and placing various items inside the buggy.  The suspect then walked into the garden center part of the store.  The man left the buggy inside the store and stepped out as if he was looking at something in the outside part of the garden center.  When the suspect saw that the cashier at the register was busy with other customers, he stepped back inside and pushed the loaded shopping cart out to the parking lot.  In all, the man took $564.60 worth of items.

A day or two later the same man came back in the store with a woman.  A loss prevention clerk at Wal-Mart recognized the woman.  Once that woman was identified, the sheriff’s office looked up her social media profiles and quickly found the male suspect on her social media posts.  They then were able to look at his social media accounts and identify him as Joshua Dale Hardeman.  Hardeman has an active warrant out of Cedartown, Georgia and an felony warrant was issued for his arrest in Chattooga County.

Hardeman was arrested on the shoplifting charges on Tuesday of this week and booked into the Chattooga County Jail.