Winter Haven police are searching for a group of eight people who took advantage of an error involving a Wal-Mart self-checkout machine to rob the store of $1,100.
- Incident occurred on Saturday, April 22
- Self-checkout machine giving out incorrect change
- Group included one teen, two small children
Detectives said on April 22 a group of eight people, including a teen and two small children, entered the Wal-Mart at 355 Cypress Gardens Boulevard. While checking out at one of the store's self-checkout aisles, a man in the group scanned and paid in cash for two items, retrieved his change from the machine and walked away.
Surveillance video show the man walking back to the machine minutes later, where another member of the group was scanning and paying for a single item. When he gets his change, the two compared bills and apparently realized the change they received was incorrect.
Instead of receiving what should have been $5 bills in their change, the men received $20. The group then proceeded to line up and, one at a time, pay for one small item in cash, knowing they would receive a $20 bill instead of a $5 bill.
The group repeated this pattern for over 20 minutes. The store later discovered via an audit that the group retrieved $1,100 in error.
The store's audit concluded that the error occurred because $20 bills were accidentally loaded in the machine where $5 bills were supposed to be loaded.
Detectives said security footage from the parking lot revealed the group left in two separate vehicles -- one newer model black four-door car and one silver or gray four-door car.
Anyone with information on the identities of the individuals involved in the incident or the incident itself is asked to call Heartland Crime Stoppers at 1-800-226-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous and be eligible for a cash reward.