(3-24-23) Two people, Brittany Simpson (30) Fairborn and Anthony Brockman (42) Botkins,were both arrested for theft and drug possession from an incident this week at the Celina Walmart.

Simpson and Brockman

The Celina Police Department made the arrests on Wednesday based on Simpson and Brockman attempting to remove from Walmart over over $1,100 in merchandise. Simpson and Brockman both face 5th degree felony charges of theft and aggravated possession of drugs and a 2nd degree misdemeanor charge of possessing drug abuse instruments.

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Both are being held in the Mercer County Adult Detention Facility with $100,000 (10%) bond pending a Mercer County Common Pleas Court appearance.

Thefts at Walmart stores around the US are increasing and recently announced earlier this month that they will be closing its last two stores in Portland, Oregon by the end of March. The decision comes on the heels of the company’s CEO warning that theft issues could force additional store closures.

In December, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon warned that an increase in theft could force the retailer to either raise prices or close stores if the problem continued.

He told CNBC –

“Theft is an issue. It’s higher than what it has historically been.”

Additional stores to shutdown are in Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, New Mexico, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C.