A Crystal River man was arrested Thursday afternoon after being stopped by a loss prevention officer at the Lowe’s Home Improvement store near an Ocala retirement community.
Marion County sheriff’s deputies responded to the store near On Top of the World and arrested 47-year-old Michael K. Caputo. The loss prevention officer told deputies that he watched Caputo take two 20-volt DeWalt lithium batteries used for cordless hand tools and place them in his pants pockets before walking out of the store without paying for them. The loss prevention officer said he confronted Caputo and escorted him to an office inside the store, where he “became agitated and had to be restrained,” a sheriff’s office report states.
Caputo then admitted to the theft and was transported to the Marion County Jail, where was charged with petit theft. Jail records show that once Caputo was booked into the facility, three other charges were added: giving false identification to a law enforcement officer, fraudulent use of someone’s identification without consent (victim 60 or older) and grand theft (between $300 and $5,000).
Caputo is being held on $7,500 bond on those three charges and is scheduled to appear in a Marion County courtroom Oct. 2 at 9 a.m. to answer to them. He would have been released on his own recognizance on the petit theft charge, jail records show.