Delaware State Police
News Release

DSP News Release: Tuesday, January 13, 2009- Theft Suspect Fails to Quit While he was Ahead

Location of Incident: K-Mart, 333 Naamans Road, Claymont, Delaware, New Castle County

Date and Time of Occurrence: Monday, January 12^th, 2009, 5:20 p.m.

Suspects:  Randy Branton, 31, of Wilmington

Resume: On Monday evening, Troopers were called to the K-Mart in Claymont for the report of a theft and disorderly conduct in progress.  Upon arriving, Troopers took custody of Randy Branton- the suspect in this case. 

This investigation revealed a K-Mart loss prevention officer (LPO) was watching surveillance monitors for the business when he happened to observe Mr. Branton in the parking lot, picking something up off of the ground.  The LPO noted that Branton was empty handed. 

Randy Branton then entered the store and chose several items from display. He walked over to the customer service counter and returned the merchandise he just selected.  Apparently, the item he picked up off of the ground in the parking lot moments before was a sales receipt for the exact items he was now trying to return.  Unaware of the scam at hand, the customer service rep provided Mr. Branton with a store credit for the merchandise. 

Branton walked back into the store and selected new merchandise which he purchased with the new store credit.   Not knowing when to quit while he was ahead, Branton went back to the customer service counter and tried to return the new merchandise for cash.  In the meantime, the LPO now had enough evidence to deny the transaction at hand and call the police. 

While Troopers were responding, store employees were stalling Branton at the service counter.  He became disorderly and threatened to hurt “someone” if the transaction he was requesting was not carried out.  Once on the scene, Branton was taken into custody without further incident.

Randy Branton was transported back to Troop 1 where he was formally charged with Theft (misdemeanor) and Disorderly Conduct (misdemeanor).   Bail was set at $1,500.00 unsecured for this case.  A computer check also revealed Branton was wanted by the Court of Common Pleas for not appearing in Court.  Bail was set at $750.00 unsecured. 

Randy Branton