If you’re going to steal nearly $2,000 worth of items from Walmart, it’s probably not the best idea to be cooking meth in the back of a Mazda SUV at the same time. But that’s just a suggestion.
First Coast News reports that a group of Florida cops responded to a shoplifting call at a local Walmart on Saturday afternoon, only to find out that the suspect had a bit more than just theft going on. An employee said the guy tried to steal $1,700 worth of items from the store—if he attempted that all at once, it’s no wonder he got caught—before leading authorities straight to his mobile meth lab in the parking lot.
And get this—according to First Coast News, the stolen items “will have to be decontaminated before they can be sold again.” Does some kind of discount go along with that? “Fifty percent off of these meth-infused items! It’s good for the soul!”
The four deputies dealing with the suspect arrived at his car and saw a white bucket inside, believing that the man could be hiding additional stolen items in the vehicle. But fumes from the lab wafted out of what cops refer to as a “one-pot operation” upon opening the vehicle, and the officers went to the hospital for precautionary measures afterward. The hospital treated and released all four deputies, according to The St. Augustine Record.
If stealing items from the store wasn’t enough, the car wasn’t even his. First Coast News added that police discovered the car to be borrowed property and it will have to be decontaminated as well before it returns to the owner.
The man also underwent decontamination before being shipped off to jail, and the area shut down for a few hours while hazardous-materials cleanup crews came in to deal with the meth lab.
If you’re looking for an obscure place to do your unlawful business, a Walmart parking lot in the middle of the day is probably not where you want to be. But if we’ve learned anything from Florida, it’s that those folks like doing it big when it comes to breaking the law—let us never forget the guy who got caught going 110 mph with three naked women in his car.
Oh, Florida.
Contact the author at alanis.king@jalopnik.com.