Lawton store reports repeated thefts by same man

LAWTON, Okla. — A Lawton business says someone keeps walking out without paying, and it’s not the first time.

Discount Foods on SW Lee Boulevard is a regular stop for shoppers, but employees say one man keeps coming back for a different reason.

Aron Claborn, an employee at Lawton Discount Store, said the man has been in the store about three times. “He’s been in probably 3 times that I know of. This last time he came in, and he was just rumbling through the store just kind of grabbing what he could. We locked the door and wouldn’t let him out and we wasn’t thinking about the back door because it was locked, but he kicked his way out,” Claborn said.

Surveillance video of the incident has no sound. The store’s camera captures one angle near the register, and the footage shows only one other person nearby at the time.

Aria Thapa, an employee at Lawton Discount Store, said the man only comes in when the store is busy. “He only comes when it’s like real busy. Imagine you’re at the register, you have like 10 people right there. You will not notice who came in and who’s going out, right? And he starts grabbing stuff. So, near our register we have big TV right there. If you see, we can see all the people walking and we saw him grabbing stuff,” Thapa said.

The footage only covers one part of the store, so there is no way to know how busy it actually was elsewhere.

Thapa said the man is not taking food. She estimates he has walked off with more than $200 in merchandise, including vapes and t-shirts.

In a Facebook post, Discount Foods said: “We want to make it clear that if someone is hungry and needs food, we are willing to help whenever we can. All they have to do is ask. But repeatedly stealing and damaging our property is unacceptable.”

Thapa’s brother owns the store. She said they have filed a police report, and officers have asked for statements and the footage.

Thapa said not knowing is unsettling, especially on days when only women are working, and other employees agree.

Claborn said, “It’s kind of disturbing, you know, just. I’ve never seen anybody just come in and try to take stuff in the middle of the day and it’s like they’re not scared to do it. So just kind of kind of shocking actually.”

Thapa said, “After this many times like you know somebody has told you not to come to this building and area and you have still have audacity to come and steal, that’s very shameful.”

7News has reached out to Lawton Police for more information and is still waiting to hear back.