An Iowa City man who works at Kmart was arrested for stealing over $350 worth of food just to eat over breaks. 18-year old Arrion Jeremiah Jackson was arrested for 4th degree Theft Saturday afternoon at the Kmart on Hollywood Blvd in Iowa City.Once again, I'm not excusing Jackson for what he was accused of. However, his employers were tracking these food thefts since December, collecting his food wrappers, and building up a tab until he was well past the point of being charged with 4th degree theft, which is a serious misdemeanor punishable up to a year in jail, as opposed to 5th degree theft, which is a simple misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail.
Loss prevention at the store had observed the 5’11, 335 pound Jackson selecting various food items and then eating them in the break room. They saw Jackson take items several times since December and finally confronted him on Saturday. Jackson admitted to taking the food. By using food wrappers and watching surveillance videos loss prevention compiled a list of stolen items that totaled $358.65.
I know people who were stupid and took something like a soda or chapstick from their employer. They were confronted right away by their supervisor and fired on the spot. Some were even criminally charged. But they weren't stalked for months by their employer so that there were additional opportunities to tack on additional thefts!
Anyway, hopefully Jackson gets himself a good attorney who helps him get this theft charge pleaded downward.