Police: Rock Hill Walmart customer confronts shoplifters

Tony Presley went to Walmart in Rock Hill Friday night to get a guest registry book for the funeral of his grandmother, who died a few days ago. He ended up thwarting a crime and helping catch two men who police say tried to dash off with a stolen computer.

Presley was threatened by one of the suspects, he said, before officers caught up with the pair and arrested both, thanks to Presley’s having written down the license plate number of the getaway car.

“I just did what I thought I had to do – help,” said Presley, 33, of his “buttin’ my nose in.”

At about 8:30 p.m. Friday, the two men tried to take a computer worth $459 by trying to bypass a cashier, according to a Rock Hill police report.

Presley told police that he was walking out of the store when a cashier asked Gary Scott, 51, of Rock Hill, for a receipt. Scott refused, then the cashier tried to stop Scott, the report states. Presley said he walked up and pulled the cart from Scott and gave the cart to the cashier.

“She looked like she needed help,” Presley said of why he jumped into the middle of the incident.

Walmart employees called police, and Presley and Scott both left the store while having words, the report states. A second man approached Presley and told him to “mind his business and if he didn’t do so, he would shoot him,” Presley told police.

Presley confirmed Monday that the second man, whom police later identified as Levar Allen, 37, of Rock Hill, threatened him. Presley wrote down the make, model and license plate number of the getaway car.

Police looked at surveillance video that showed Scott cutting the security packaging on the computer while Allen served as the lookout, according to the report.

At a Rock Hill home that matched the registration of the license plate, police found the same make and model car outside and Scott and Allen inside, the report states. Officers found a computer box in the house, the report states.

Scott, who allegedly tried to walk out of the store with the computer, told officers he had a disorderly event at the store but did not mention the theft, police said.

Allen told police he was the lookout, the report states, while Scott cut the security packaging on the computer. Allen admitted to police that he walked behind Scott during the incident as Scott pushed the cart with the computer out of the store, according to the report.

Scott and Allen were charged by Rock Hill police with shoplifting and felony conspiracy.

Allen, who has a previous conviction for shoplifting, according to the State Law Enforcement Division, was released later on a $10,000 bond, according to Rock Hill jail officials.

Scott, with past convictions for forgery and other crimes, remains jailed under a $15,000 bond at the York County Detention Center.

This story was originally published March 23, 2015 at 7:02 PM with the headline "Police: Rock Hill Walmart customer confronts shoplifters."