OCALA, Fla. – A woman charged with some minor shoplifting is in major trouble after Walmart figured out she’d done it seven other times, with her daughter. She’s also facing three felonies she almost got away with last year.
Everything came crashing down for Sara Elizabeth Rosario on Oct. 21 when authorities in Florida were called to the Walmart.
Eight arrest reports say a loss prevention associate told a deputy Rosario and an unknown person, later identified as her underage daughter,
“unlawfully removed several items from the store without paying. The defendant made no effort to scan several items, and placed them in bags and back into the shopping cart. The defendant exited the store passed all points of sale.”
The deputy was able to identify Rosario since Walmart cameras in the parking lot captured her license plate.
Then, the reports say, “It was discovered that defendant Rosario and [her daughter] committed seven additional thefts between June and October of 2024. During these transactions, defendant Rosario and [her daughter] concealed several items inside Walmart bags, failing to properly scan items during the self-checkout process, and exits the store, passing all points of sale with unscanned items.
“I observed security camera footage dated 8/23/2024,” the deputy continued in one of the reports, “in which [the daughter] arrives at register 30 at 5:53 p.m. [The daughter] is observed scanning a candle and hair color, and putting them in a bag. At the same time, [the daughter] is seen placing a Dove bottle and a hair color in the bag without scanning the items. [The daughter] then pays for this transaction with cash. The total store loss on this transaction was $14.95.”
But there was reportedly more, starting one minute later.
“Defendant Rosario then approaches behind [her daughter] with a cart of groceries,” the deputy wrote, “and begins another transaction at 5:54 p.m. in register 30. Defendant Rosario can be seen scanning a variety of items but not scanning natural gummies, foam pads, protein snack, lemonade drink, and pads. The total store loss for this transaction was $39.90.
“Then, on the same date, at self-checkout register 5 at 6:04 p.m., [the daughter] failed to scan several items. [The daughter] is observed scanning a bottle of Coke and two bags of M&Ms, but does not scan a sweatshirt. Defendant Rosario can then be seen paying for the scanned items with her card. The total loss in this transaction was $19.98.”
The arrest report does not otherwise connect Rosario with the card she reportedly used.
“Defendant Rosario and [her daughter] passed all points of sale at 6:05 p.m. Defendant Rosario was observed on camera pushing the cart with the stolen items out of the store.”
Walmart gave authorities “a list of the stolen items and their prices” for this each of her alleged shoplifting sprees. A list appears on each arrest report and they’re shown here in chronological order: June 10 and 21; Aug. 23; Sept. 11 and 25; and Oct. 11, 15, and 18, 2024.
Walmart accused Sara Elizabeth Rosario of stealing these items. by Lenny Cohen on Scribd
The deputy continued, “On 10/27/2024, I made contact with the defendant” at her home and she said “she must have not scanned the items by mistake.”
But, her story reportedly changed.
“The defendant advised, ‘Times are tough,’ and she currently does not have a job. The defendant was then questioned about [her daughter’s] involvement in the theft, to which she advised she had instructed her to steal.”
Rosario was arrested and charged with petit theft-first offense, a misdemeanor, and taken to jail.
But authorities were not able to rest. They had to watch seven other Walmart surveillance videos from different dates and write up seven other arrest reports, and charging Rosario with seven more counts of the charge petit theft-first offense.
An arrest report said on June 10, “Rosario failed to scan several items. [Her daughter] places several items in a Walmart bag and does not even attempt to scan the items, for a store loss of $71.46.”
It said Rosario began “scanning merchandise” and then “hands [her daughter] and empty bag, and [her daughter] places a sheet set, a candle, and fruit snacks in the bag. “Defendant Rosario is observed taking a pack of Dove deodorant and passing it over the scanner, but not actually scanning it, and placing it into the bag. In the cart was also a pack of Nutro dog food and a six-pack roll of paper towels which were never scanned.”
Those items had a total value of $71.46.
On June 21, “Rosario failed to scan several items. [Her daughter] placed several non-scanned items into a Walmart bag without even attempting to scan the items, for a store loss of $183.22.” The items were mostly food.
It was a similar story on Sept. 11, when the store loss was reportedly $88.59.
Two weeks later, Walmart said it lost $70.36.
On Oct. 11, $42.06.
Oct. 15, $61.48.
And Oct. 18, $141.78.
The arrest reports don’t say how old Rosario’s daughter is, nor whether she’s facing criminal charges.
Rosario, 41, didn’t have a clean record at the time of her arrest, and that’s coming back to haunt her.
She was arrested on a warrant for three felonies, a year ago.
The affidavit said the victim, who was older than 60, told a deputy, “Her wallet was missing and fraudulent charges had been made on her credit cards. She advised she does not know when she last had her wallet, or where she could have lost it.
“She advised she also had a $200 Visa gift card and she contacted Visa to inquire about replacing the gift card, and they informed her it was used on 11/07/2023 to pay an AT&T bill of $175.”
The victim said “the wallet was a trifold men’s wallet, which used to belong to her husband.” The wallet was worth about $10. Inside it was $50 in cash, five credit cards, and a food card with $190 on it. She also said her driver’s license was in the wallet, as well as a bank debit card.
“She advised she realized the wallet was stolen, and not lost, when she learned the Visa gift card had been used,” the deputy wrote.
Later, she told the deputy she didn’t know where she lost her wallet or who took it.
The victim also said her Discover Card was charged $800 at Hobby Lobby, her Walmart card was used at an unknown location for $225, and a third card was used.
Plus, she said, fraudulent transactions of $463.21 were conducted on her Discover Card.
The affidavit also said the Discover Card was used at a Publix for $125.02 and a Hobby Lobby for $96.30, and a Capital One card was used at a Walmart for $225.47.
It was that last transaction, on Nov. 8, 2023, that implicated Rosario and led to her arrest.
The deputy went to Walmart with the transaction information, and a loss prevention officer “was able to locate the fraudulent purchase, as well as the surveillance video.
“I reviewed the video, which corresponds to the transaction where the victim’s Capital One card was used,” the deputy wrote, “and observed a middle-aged Hispanic female, not the victim, use the victim’s credit card to make the purchase on 11/08/23.”
That time, she apparently scanned every item.
“In the video,” the deputy continued, “the defendant used a self-checkout register and one of the video surveillance recordings is oriented above the register. While the defendant is scanning items and then placing them into bags, I observed a tattoo just in front of her right wrist, closer to her thumb. The defendant is also wearing a black-in-color bracelet and further up, toward the inside of her right forearm, there is a linear bruise.” And she drove away in “what appears to be a newer model white Hyundai sport utility vehicle.
Next, it seems the deputy hit the jackpot.
“I then began conducting records checks and utilizing investigative techniques, I was able to locate a 2020 white Hyundai registered to a Sara Rosario, and after viewing her driver’s license photograph, appeared to be the defendant.”
The deputy also pointed to an “incident report” where another deputy “made contact with Ms. Rosario. The incident took place on 08/19/23 and I was able to review the body camera video.”
In it, the deputy wrote, “I observed Ms. Rosario wearing the same bracelet from the Walmart surveillance, as well as the tattoo and the linear bruise on her right hand and arm. I was also able to positively identify Ms. Rosario from the body camera video and the defendant in the Walmart surveillance video.”
The “incident” with the other deputy was not explained.
Next, this deputy went to Publix where a loss prevention investigator “was able to locate the transaction information and provide an image from their surveillance video. I reviewed the image provided and it is, in fact, defendant Rosario who completed the transaction.”
A trip to Hobby Lobby turned up “images from their video surveillance which shows the defendant using the victim’s Discover Card, wearing the same clothing from the Walmart surveillance.”
And the folks at Pilot “located video surveillance of the defendant using the victim’s Discover Card inside the location on 11/07/23. On 11/08/23, the transaction took place at a gas pump and there was no video for the transaction.
“In total, there were seven fraudulent transactions which took place” in Marion County, plus a few others, the deputy reported, “with the transactions totaling approximately $688.18.
“This amount, along with the value of the wallet, $50 in cash, and five credit cards, one food card, and the victim’s Florida driver’s license each worth $1, as well as the Visa gift card worth $200, make the total loss value of approximately $955.
“All the transactions took place over the course of three days and due to the defendant being the only person captured on video surveillance completing transactions with the victim’s card … there is probable cause to believe the defendant conducted all the fraudulent transactions.”
Authorities could not “make contact with the defendant in this case,” so they got a warrant for Rosario’s arrest and charged her with grand larceny between $750 and $5,000, fraud by illegally using credit cards more than twice in six months, and fraud by using identification of a victim 60 years or older.
On Dec. 1, Rosario was arrested at her home and she spent 20 hours in jail until her release in lieu of $17,000 bond.
On March 26, despite three felonies, she signed a “pretrial intervention contract” admitting guilt, and the state deferring prosecution for three years “to determine if prosecution can be permanently deferred.”
Order to Revoke Bond, Oct. 28, 2024 by Lenny Cohen on Scribd
Needless to say, Rosario didn’t make it. The old case was reopened and her bond was revoked.
This time, she’s still locked up.
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