4 booked into jail amid retail thefts

PROVO — 'Tis the giving season.

Apparently, 'tis the season for trying to take things without paying, too.

That's what police say four people were trying to do recently at two Utah County stores.

The cases are unrelated, police say, except for the fact that two groups of people hoped to get out of the stores with merchandise they didn't pay for.

On Dec. 16, a man and a woman were wandering around the Orem Wal-Mart, 1355 S. Sandhill Road, putting things into two shopping carts, according to a police report.

The couple allegedly put in more than $1,000 worth of merchandise into one cart and more than $1,000 into the other, then sat at the in-store McDonald's restaurant for a while before trying to leave the store, according to the report.

Both individuals were booked into the Utah County Jail for investigation of retail theft.

In a separate incident also on Dec. 16, two people tried to tell police a male friend gave them a credit card with a female's name and allowed them to rack up nearly $1,500 of charges at Dillard's at the Provo Towne Centre.

The men purchased the items then quickly left the store. An astute clerk got a car description and called police, who were able to track down the men.

The men told police they didn't have the card anymore and had thrown it away, according to a police report.

A call to the card's owner revealed that her purse and credit cards were missing.

The two men were booked into the Utah County Jail.