HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla. — Two men were arrested Sunday after they attempted to pull off a scam involving stealing high-dollar items from Walmart locations in order to return them for cash refunds later, according to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office.

  • Suspects identified as Darcell Douglas, 24, Damine Tyson, 28
  • Both charged with Fraud, Swindle, Obtain Property Under $20,000
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Deputies were called to the Walmart store located at 1485 Commercial Way Sunday around 4 p.m. by loss prevention officers who believed there were two men in the store attempting to commit a scam involving expensive items.

The reason they believed this was that the two men, later identified as Darcell Douglas, 24, and Damine Tyson, 28, were spotted earlier in the day at two other Walmart locations, attempted to do the same thing.

According to investigators, the scam involved the two men selecting expensive merchandise in the store, putting it in a cart, and then proceeding to the front of the store. Once near the cash registers, one of the men would distract a cashier while the other pressed a series of buttons on that cashier's register to obtain a receipt, creating the appearance that they'd paid for the merchandise.

The men would then leave the store with the items with the intent of returning the items later for cash refunds, using the fraudulently obtained receipts. 

Darcell Douglas (left) and Damine Tyson (right) (Courtesy of Hernando County Sheriff's Office)

Deputies apprehended Douglas and Tyson at the Commercial Way store and interviewed them both. Tyson refused to speak to investigators and was immediately transported to the county's detention center.

Douglas, however, revealed the scam's details to investigators. He told them that at the first Walmart they went to in Brooksville, "something didn't feel right," so they left and tried the Cortez Boulevard location. There, while they were attempted to obtain a receipt at one of the store's registers, a customer in line behind them called attention to what they were doing, and they fled the store empty-handed.

It was then that they went to the Commercial Way location to try one more time, and were taken into custody.

Both men were charged with Fraud, Swindle, Obtain Property Under $20,000. Douglas's bond was set at $2,000, while Tyson's was set at $5,000.