A Newark man was charged with shoplifting after allegedly attempting to scam the Home Depot store out of three tool sets, according to the West Windsor Police Department.
The man paid for three sets of tools at the self-checkout register, valued at $462, in the April 8 incident, police said. Then he asked a store associate to watch the tools while he went back into the store to buy more things.
He selected three sets of tools that were identical to the ones that he had purchased, along with a battery. He allegedly told a different cashier that he did not want the battery, showed the receipt for the tools from his original purchase, and left the store without paying for the second set of tools, police said.
The man returned to the store to claim the tools that he had purchased, but he was stopped by store security. During the investigation, he was allegedly also found to have drug paraphernalia in his possession that contained heroin residue.
He was processed and released.