A Bloomfield man charged with theft from a store in Linton is accused of taking over $700 worth of items out of their packaging then putting them in a box in his cart then walking out the door without paying for anything.

When Curtis Anthony Martin, 33, Bloomfield, appeared in Greene Circuit Court last week, he was charged with theft – where the value of the property is between $750 and $50,000, a Level 6 felony, following an incident that occurred on Friday, May 14, that was investigated by Officer Debbie McDonald of the Linton Police Department.

Officer McDonald was dispatched to the Walmart store in Linton around noon on Friday, May 14, on the report that a man was roaming around the store opening packages then putting the items into another box that was in his cart. Not only was he allegedly hiding the items, he was making a mess in the store.

Officer McDonald located the man, identified as Curtis Martin, in the Lawn and Garden Center and asked him if he had money to pay for the items in his cart. He said he did. The officer told him the store wanted him to leave so he needed to proceed to a checkout to pay and leave.

Officer McDonald asked Martin what substances he had taken that day after she noticed he was swaying and would stumble unless he was holding on to his cart. He said he hadn’t taken anything.

Martin allegedly then started mumbling and walked out the door to the fenced-in area of the garden center. The officer told him again to proceed to a checkout. But Martin allegedly then pushed his full cart out toward the parking lot without paying for anything.

Martin was stopped, detained and taken into an office area where he said he was there with a woman. When she was located in the store, she said Martin was on his way to rehab in Corydon but had stopped to get a prescription filled in the pharmacy. She said he left the pharmacy area then she could not find him. While the officer was talking to her, Martin was nodding off and his friend said he was a brittle diabetic. She tried to check his blood sugar but he refused. She said she thought he was “on something” and that when his blood sugar is low, he normally doesn’t act the way he was acting. An ambulance was called. His blood sugar was low and he was taken to Greene County General Hospital for evaluation.

The total for all of the items Martin had put into his cart was $789.19. The items were returned to the store but many of them were damaged. The total of the damaged items was $173.20.

Martin was not arrested at the time of this incident but a criminal case was filed against him in Greene Superior Court on May 20. A warrant was issued for his arrest and he was taken into custody by Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Stanley on May 22. His bond was set at $4,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed but as of early this week, he has not yet posted bond and was still in jail.

Officer McDonald said Martin has a prior conviction for theft in Monroe County.