An Ocala man was arrested Wednesday after drinking a Red Bull at Wal-Mart at Buffalo Ridge Plaza in The Villages.
Matthew Scott Vealey, 33, entered the store at about 5 p.m., took the energy drink from a cooler and drank it while inside the store, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
He was detained by the store’s loss prevention officer and taken into custody on a charge of petit theft after a deputy reviewed surveillance footage.
Vealey later told the deputy he did not intend to take the energy drink.
“I did not intend to steal the Red Bull. I grabbed it and walked around the store drinking it while shopping. I set it down and we purchased our other groceries and then left,” he said.
Vealey was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center on $500 bond.