Woman with history of theft convictions charged with retail theft

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- A 35-year-old Milwaukee woman with a history of theft convictions has been charged in connection with a retail theft incident that occurred at a Mount Pleasant Walmart store.

35-year-old Marquita Robertson of Milwaukee faces the following charges:

Robertson has a lengthy criminal history, including several convictions for retail theft and theft by fraud dating back to 1999.

Officers on October 12th of 2013 responded to the Walmart store on South Oakes Road in the Village of Mount Pleasant for a retail theft complaint.

A criminal complaint in the case says a Loss Prevention officer told police he believed Robertson had switched the price tags on several items and had purchased the items.

The complaint says the Loss Prevention officer told police Robertson had purchased five items at the electronics desk on October 6th -- two T-shirts and three jackets. All three jackets regularly retailed for around $50, but the Loss Prevention officer says Robertson paid just a few dollars for each jacket. The next day, the Loss Prevention officer says Robertson returned some of the items for full price.

The complaint says a Loss Prevention officer checked some items Robertson had left outside a fitting room which were affixed with the proper price tags. The complaint says the tags were rechecked after Robertson tried the items on, and they had clearance price tags -- which did not match the clothing they were attached to.

The complaint says Robertson purchased some items at the pharmacy counter, and then moved to the electronics counter where she purchased more items. That's when a manager was notified and Robertson was stopped.

An officer searched bagged items that Robertson had in her cart and separated items with the wrong tags attached. The complaint says there were several clothing items that did not have the correct price tag on them.

The complaint says a Walmart employee determined the 11 items to be worth $97.52.

The complaint says Robertson was very upset -- and said she had paid for and had receipt for the items she purchased. The complaint says she was "hysterical," and said she has many different diagnoses, including bipolar, schizophrenia, and high anxiety.

The complaint says Robertson denied switching any of the tags, and said Walmart had placed the wrong tags on the items she purchased.

Robertson was arrested for retail theft for allegedly altering the prices.

The criminal complaint in the case says Robertson was out on bond in a separate retail theft case at the time of this alleged crime. That bond was posted in August of 2013.