Bloomfield man charged with theft, invasion of privacy

Linton Police Department Patrolman Jerrad Pirtle filed a probable cause affidavit in Greene Superior Court August 14, preliminarily charging Bloomfield resident Herbert Skalon Jr. with Class A misdemeanor theft and Class A misdemeanor invasion of privacy in violation of a protective order.

Pirtle was called to the Walmart Supercenter in Linton by the store’s Loss Prevention office in reference to employees having two suspects detained for shoplifting.

The employees told Pirtle a male and a female went through a self-checkout lane and failed to scan several of their items before paying for what they did scan and attempting to leave after passing all points of sale.

The male was identified as Skalon Jr. and both subjects provided Pirtle with identification from Illinois.

Pirtle reported the Walmart loss prevention officer stated the female subject was trespassed from a Walmart in Illinois.

Pirtle added the total of the unpaid-for items the two subjects failed to scan was $21.78 and said both refused to sign Walmart trespass paperwork.

Pirtle read the subjects their Miranda Rights and both indicated they understood.

“(Skalon Jr.) was confrontational and rude during the interaction,” Pirtle wrote. “(He) said he scanned the items and (the female) had nothing to do with it. (Skalon Jr.) said there were a lot of items, so he must have overlooked a few.” Both subjects were released after they were informed they were trespassed from Walmart and were not to return. Pirtle said they were also told a report would be filed for a preliminary charge of theft for Skalon Jr. and criminal trespass for the female subject.

The pair refused to give an address, allegedly telling the officer they were “in between places”.

Pirtle said he was later informed the female subject had an active protective order against Skalon Jr..

The officer was able to find an address in Bloomfield for the subjects and began to investigate the protective order out of Illinois.

That office, Pirtle said, was able to provide a full copy of the order and confirm it was valid. It stated, the officer said, that Skalon Jr. was “not allowed to be within 500 feet” of the female subject.

Pirtle traveled to the Bloomfield address of the subjects and took Skalon Jr. into custody, transporting him to the Greene County Jail on the two charges.

Skalon Jr.’s bond was set at $5,000 with 10% allowed. He has a pretrial conference scheduled for September 25.

All persons are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.