SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — San Diego Sheriff's deputies said they've put a stop to a serial retail thief Monday, after arresting a man who was found with about 100 bottles of liquor worth more than $9,000 in his vehicle.
At about 9:10 a.m., a theft was reported at the Ralphs store on 4S Commons Drive in the 4S Ranch area.
Employees told deputies that a man had stolen several liquor bottles and drove off in a silver Mercedes with no license plate.
Later, Sheriff’s Deputy Tae Lee spotted the Mercedes driving east on Rancho Bernardo Road. The department said Deputy Lee reported seeing several bottles of liquor “in plain sight.”
The driver, 19-year-old Georgion Lovesmith, a Los Angeles resident, admitted to deputies that he’d stolen from Ralphs and was arrested. Lovesmith had stolen dozens of liquor bottles at various Ralphs stores earlier in the day, the department said.
Escondido police said Lovesmith could be connected to several similar thefts that happened in the city.
Officials from Ralphs told deputies that most of the unopened bottles in the car were from their stores.
Lovesmith has been arrested in several other incidents in San Diego and Los Angeles and was out on bail from an arrest in October, the department said.
He is currently jailed at the Vista Detention Facility on a $100,000 bail.
