An alleged serial shoplifter with an odd name was taken into custody and charged with stealing more than $20,000 worth of goods from Walmart locations in northern Georgia.
At the self-checkout, 40-year-old Speedy Gonzalez was charged with putting expensive products in a cheap container and just scanning the huge, cheap item without scanning the smaller items concealed inside.
“Nicotine, gum, diabetic strips, you know, high-priced items, although smaller in nature,” Gainesville Police Lt. Kevin Holbrook stated. “He would then pick out an item from the shelf, such as a trash can. In one instance, it was a mailbox… Then take all those items, stick it into the box with the larger item, and then take that, pay for it, and walk out of the store.”
Gonzalez used this tactic to get away with far more than he had paid for, but ten days after another claimed theft in March, the police discovered his crimes and took him into custody.
In the counties of Hall, Barrow, Gwinnett, Habersham, White, and Lumpkin in Georgia, he was charged with more than 20 thefts.
According to the Gainesville Police Department, Gonzalez, who resided northeast of Atlanta, was taken into custody, checked into the Hall County jail, and is facing a number of federal offenses.
Gonzalez had previously encountered cops.
Gonzalez was apprehended in Gwinnett County in April 2020 on charges of stealing checks from a mailbox and attempting to use the money to purchase $3,000 worth of goods at a nearby Home Depot.
Since it took months for the police to apprehend him, he did live up to his reputation in that crime.
Gonzalez’s name is almost identical to that of the well-known Speedy Gonzales, the nimble mouse wearing an enormous yellow sombrero, from Looney Tunes.
According to a former animation employee, Martha Goldman Sigall, the cartoon was inspired by Frank Gonzales, an assistant animator at Warner Bros. who was renowned for his lightning-fast drawing skills.
Following his crime spree, Gonzalez’s misfortune was ridiculed by social media users.
One commenter on the Gainesville Police Department’s initial Facebook arrest post stated, “Clearly wasn’t speedy enough.”
Another person commented, “He needs to change his name. Change it to slowpoke Rodriguez after getting caught.”
Another joked, “Tell me that is not his real name.”
