Brevard’s mother accused of using children, including a 10-year-old with autism, to shoplift
BREWARD COUNTY, Florida. – In Brevard County, a mother has been charged after police said she used her children to help herself steal from a Walmart store and then abandoned them to escape law enforcement when they were caught.
Katrina Latoya Singleton, 37, was arrested on Thursday, according to prison records.
Investigators said surveillance video filmed Singleton guiding and helping her children collect a basket full of items from the store on June 30, totaling $649.78.
The footage shows Singleton’s 10-year-old child leaving the store with a shopping cart, according to a Facebook post by the sheriff’s office.
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Deputies who were working with Walmart to prevent shoplifting losses approached the child in the store’s parking lot and detained him, the report said.
Another of the Singleton children, who is 18, then met police officers in the parking lot and introduced himself as the child’s brother, investigators said.
Aides allowed the 18-year-old to call his mother to meet with them, but video footage showed her exiting the store on the opposite side of the building, from which she fled, according to the sheriff’s office.
According to the deputies, then the grandparents were called to pick up the 10-year-old boy. A warrant was issued for Singleton’s arrest.
She faces charges of assisting in the delinquency of a minor, petty retail theft, and child neglect without serious bodily harm.
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