A 31-year-old man from Sewell, New Jersey was arrested last month for shoplifting from a Universal Studios Florida gift shop.
According to court documents, Ryan Walsh was charged with Grand Theft, a felony in the third degree.
On the 6th December, 2021, a detective was working off duty at Universal Orlando. At around 3:45pm, the detective was notified by Universal Loss Prevention that they had apprehended a shoplifter, according to the arrest affidavit.
The off duty detective then made contact with an involved Universal Loss Prevention Officer, who then told the deceive the following in a sworn written statement:
“On December 6th, 2021 at approximately 1530 hours, I [name excluded*] observed Walsh, Ryan approach the Harry Potter assorted Christmas display and select one Hufflepuff Ornament, one Ravenclaw Ornament, [and] one Griffendor Ornament, and a Slytherin Ornament.
He [Walsh] removed all of the selected ornaments from the shelf and concealed them in his right hand. As Walsh exited the display he concealed the ornaments in his large Universal Studios Merchandise bag.
Walsh then returned to the ornament display and selected another set of Harry Potter ornaments. As Walsh exited the display he again concealed the ornaments inside the same merchandise bag.
Walsh then approached the assorted phone case display and selected one death eaters phone case and one Ravenclaw phone case. He removed the phone cases from the rack and concealed them inside the merchandise bag.
Walsh proceeded back to the Harry Potter assorted ornaments display and selected more Harry Potter Ornaments. He removed the ornaments from the display and concealed them inside his bag as he walked away from the display.
Walsh then walked to the assorted sock wall and selected multiple pairs of socks, and removed them from the rack. As Walsh walked away from the display he concealed all of the socks into his merchandise bag.
Walsh returned to the Harry Potter assorted Christmas Ornament display and selected more ornaments. He concealed the ornaments in his merchandise bag as he walked away from the display.
Walsh then proceeded to the Harry Potter Scrapbook display and selected one Harry Potter Scrapbook. Walsh removed the scrapbook from the shelf and concealed it under his right arm as he departed the display.
Walsh then approached the Harry Potter Throw Blankets and selected one blanket and removed it from the shelf. Walsh then proceeded to exit the Universal Studios Store via the doors facing Minion Mayhem, without paying.
Walsh was approached at the entrance of the Minion Mayhem ride and escorted back to B15 for questioning without further incident. During the interview, Walsh admitted to stealing all of the above items along with additional merchandise in his possession.
The total value I observed Walsh remove from the store without paying was $827.35. The total value of the theft was $827.35, and all items were recovered.”
Walsh was taken to jail and set to be arraigned on the 18th January in Orange County Circuit Court. Walsh is currently being represented by Michael Zmijewski.
*PLEASE NOTE: Names of officials involved have been excluded. However, the detective invovled works for Orlando Police.
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H/T WDWNT
