Florida woman accused of skip-scanning at Walmart said theft was a ‘misunderstanding’
Tenneille Rahming (Photo: Lake County Sheriff’s Office)
CLERMONT, Fla. – A woman who was arrested for skip-scanning items at a Walmart in Clermont said the theft was a “misunderstanding,” according to an arrest affidavit from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Tenneille Rahming, 27, was charged with retail petit theft after the incident that happened at the retail store at 550 U.S. Highway 27 on Aug. 14.
The Bahamian woman was using Walmart’s self-checkout when she was caught on surveillance footage stacking numerous items of clothing together and scanning only one or two of the products, deputies said.
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“The defendant then paid for the scanned items and proceeded to exit past all points of sale without rendering payment for the unscanned items in her cart,” the affidavit added.
Rahming is accused of failing to scan 23 items, totaling $211.06. All the stolen items were recovered.
The woman said the theft was a “misunderstanding,” and said she would “pay for the items,” the affidavit said.
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Rahming was taken into custody and transported to the Lake County Jail. Online jail records show that she has since been released after posting $500 bond.
Can a Glitchy Walmart Scanner Destroy Your Life? Ask This Ex-Olympian
A malfunctioning self-checkout machine cost Meaggan Pettipiece her job and months of legal trouble.
By Luis Prada
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a former Olympic athlete named Meaggan Pettipiece had her life completely flipped upside down by a traumatic experience with a Walmart self-checkout machine in Indiana. You really shouldn’t trust those stupid machines. The pimply-faced teenager or the slow geriatric woman scanning your groceries might be annoying, but at least they won’t ruin your life like a self-checkout machine can.
Pettipiece had collected all her items into her cart and made her way to the self-checkout lane. She scanned her items, which totaled $176. But some items in her cart didn’t get scanned, like ham and asparagus, which totaled $67. Walmart security called the cops, who then arrested Pettipiece for grand theft ham like she was some broke teenager.
As the police officers were searching her, they found two blister packs of an antinausea medication called Zofran, along with three disposable vape pens. Pettipiece said that the medication belonged to her assistant and that the vapes did not contain THC. She was already facing charges of theft, but now possession of marijuana and possession of a controlled substance are added on top.
Pettipiece played softball for Team Canada at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and was an alternate for the 2004 Canadian Olympic softball team. At the time of the arrest, Pettipiece was the head coach of Valparaiso University’s softball team. But it caused such a stir in the local media that she had to resign.
It wasn’t until later that she realized she shouldn’t have been approached by Walmart’s police force in the first place. It turns out the self-checkout machine she used was faulty, as it failed to register items she had scanned. And that blister pack of antinausea medication and those vapes? After some investigation, the cops discovered that the medication wasn’t actually hers, and the vape pens they found didn’t actually have THC in them.
Her career was ruined for no good goddamn reason at all.
After several months of legal nonsense, on September 19, 2024, the Indiana Department of Justice finally decided to dismiss all charges against her. She has described her life between March and September 2024 as a “living nightmare.” She said, “I lost my career, I lost my job, the life I was building, and it’s been really difficult.”
All over a malfunctioning self-checkout machine. That is some bleak dystopian shit.
Walmart self-checkout video shows county leader allegedly ‘skip scanning,’ police say
PORTAGE, MI — A video from a Walmart self-checkout shows the moments that led to retail fraud charges against a top Kalamazoo County leader.
On the night of Dec. 21, 2023, Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners Chair Tami Rey said she and others went Christmas shopping at Walmart, 8350 Shaver Road in Portage. Walmart security called police on Rey and another woman, accusing them of not scanning some items in the cart, leading to misdemeanor charges against them.
Rey has spoken out about the incident and said she filed a customer relations complaint and an ethics complaint against Walmart, alleging racism played a role.
A police report shows a written account from a responding police officer, while security footage from Walmart provides an overhead view from the self-checkout. MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette received both from police through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Video shows Walmart loss prevention personnel meeting police outside and pointing out the two women. They can be seen heading back into the store with police.
“You could see in the surveillance footage that Rey had taken a black rolled up blanket out of the grocery cart and immediately put it in the bagging area without even attempting to scan the item,” Officer Justin VanDyken said in the report. “It was blatantly obvious that there was no attempt from Rey to scan the heated blanket whatsoever.”
The police report alleges Rey was responsible for the theft of the $76 heated blanket. It also alleges the woman with Rey was responsible for the theft of a black makeup box, valued at $29.97.
“I thoroughly informed them of what I saw on the surveillance footage, which showed Rey blatantly skip-scanning a blanket … Rey stated that she must have forgotten to scan the blanket,” Van Dyken wrote in the police report.
The police officer alleged the other woman waived one of the makeup cases over the scanner and placed it in the bagged area after it did not scan.
The officer told the women they were being cited for third-degree retail fraud, a misdemeanor.
The self-checkout process is shown in Walmart security footage obtained from police.MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette has trimmed the self-checkout footage to begin when the blanket is first handled, as well as one makeup case.
Rey spoke to MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette briefly this week and referred to a statement she posted online about the incident.
“The outcome seemed racially motivated, ridiculous, petty and unacceptable,” Rey wrote in the statement. “I’ve retained a lawyer, as this incident resulted in a misdemeanor charge. With no criminal history, this situation is absurd.”
Upon exiting the store, Rey said she and the others were stopped and asked for receipts. Rey said she declined and a police officer appeared soon after. Rey said she agreed to return the items to the store, estimated to be $800 to $1,000, which is when it was discovered the blanket didn’t show up on the receipt since it wasn’t scanned.
Rey’s attorney, Mike Hills, did not return a call seeking comment Thursday morning. Rey said she was advised by her attorney not to say much about the case.
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Rey said she was at Walmart to buy items for a family impacted by gun violence.
The county is not commenting on the incident, Public Information Officer Taylor Koopman said, because it only provides comments related to official government business.
Rey was chosen as chair of the county board earlier this month. Former Chair John Taylor was selected as vice chair.
“At this point, we’re waiting for facts to come out, we’re waiting for information to come out,” Taylor said when reached by phone Thursday. “We’re going to let the courts decide.”
Walmart declined to comment on the incident. “Any questions on this shoplifting (incident) will need to be handled by police,” Walmart Press Office Director Joe Pennington in a message to MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette.
Several people have expressed support for Rey online after she posted a statement about the incident.
Rey is scheduled for an arraignment/pre-trial hearing on Tuesday, Jan. 30, in Kalamazoo County District Court.
The county board meets next on Tuesday, Feb. 6.
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