The law enforcement saying, “See something, say something,” played out over the weekend on Hilton Head after a resident saw something amiss in the Walmart parking lot and called police.
“When people are diligent like this, it’s exactly what we ask people to do,” said Maj. Angela Viens with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office. “Sometimes, a delay in doing that [reporting incidents to police] lets someone get away.”
Officers were called out to the store parking lot on Pembroke Drive Saturday just before 1 p.m. after a shopper walking into the store spotted a suspicious man he suspected of shoplifting, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s report. The shopper told deputies they had left with a “large amount of items” from the store.
The shoplifters had already taken a cart full of merchandise from the Hilton Head Walmart and police suspect they were going back in for more, Viens said.
The couple left the Walmart parking lot before police arrived.
The two were found pumping gas at a nearby gas station and questioned about the merchandise in their car, police said in the report. The two told deputies they were visiting the island for its beaches and had gone shopping at Walmart to buy gifts for a party they planned to attend soon in Orangeburg, South Carolina. When police asked, the two could not provide receipts for the merchandise. Drugs were found inside the car, according to the report.
The suspicious man had allegedly taken a cart full of merchandise and was likely going back inside for more when he was spotted by the shopper who called police, Viens said. The items he stole — clothing, diapers, food and electronics —totaled about $1,300.
The man, Stephen Luner, 33, of Orangeburg, South Carolina, was charged with shoplifting, giving false information to police and drug charges. Misty O’Brien, 47, of Orangeburg, South Carolina, was charged with drug possession.
As of Thursday, Luner is still in custody at the Beaufort County Detention Center. O’Brien was released Monday.