.
An alert store clerk who became suspicious of a customer’s behavior led to the recovery of more than $3,000 in electronics stolen from Best Buy.
On Tuesday, Nov. 11, an Office Depot manager called police regarding suspected theft of items after a customer came in asking to ship boxes to a New Jersey address. He said he was shipping tools to his home.
According to the police report, he was very nervous with the clerk and almost ran out of the store before receiving $37 in change. He practically ran out of the store after receiving his change.
After he left, the cashier reported the man’s suspicious behavior to the manager who indicated store policy allowed them to open suspicious items. When they opened the boxes they found electronics equipment. They called police and called some retailers in electronics and learned the Onalaska Best Buy store was missing some similar items.
The police then took the items to the Best Buy store to identify. A store inventory manager identified many of the items as theirs worth $3,062.98. Several items were Best Buy products, but not from the Onalaska store.
The Best Buy manager said they had found a humidifier stuffed under one of the shelves a couple weeks ago and never found the box. He suspected the thief had taken the humidifier out of the box and filled the box with electronic equipment and then paid for a humidifier.
They later identified the date of the sale and a name and address in New Jersey for the person.
A similar incident with a humidifier box occurred in an East Madison Best Buy store last month and they had a picture of the person they are sending to Onalaska.
.
Advertisement 
