The Sheriff’s Department arrested a San Diego parolee that was wanted in connection to the theft of thousands of dollars of alcohol from a Nipomo grocery store. The photo, which was released by the Sheriff’s Department shows the suspect in the midst of his alleged grand theft.
The Sheriff’s Department announced the capture of a man they said pulled off a major grand theft of thousands of dollars’ worth of alcohol from a grocery store in South County.
The case started Feb. 2, according to a news release. “On Feb. 2,” Sheriff’s spokesman Tony Cipolla said, “Sheriff’s deputies investigated a theft at the Vons grocery store in Nipomo in which the suspect allegedly stole approximately $4,000 worth of alcohol over the course of about 1 hour.”
The suspect reportedly removed individual bottles from their boxes, Cipolla said, and concealed them under his clothes and in a backpack before leaving the store.
“The suspect returned to the store multiple times during the theft,” Cipolla added.
No description of a getaway vehicle was obtained, though that much booze would obviously have to be transported via some sort of vehicle. Cipolla didn’t say what kind of alcohol was taken — whether it was bottles of wine or hard liquor.
The department asked if anyone could identify the suspect, or if they might have information about similar thefts and someone apparently did, because a few days later, they nabbed the suspected brazen booze thief.
On Feb. 19, Cipolla announced the arrest, which occurred Feb. 12 during a traffic stop.
The suspect was identified as Georgian Lovesmith, 23, no known local address, and a parolee out of San Diego. He’d apparently been busy.
Deputies also recovered a total of over $10,000 worth of suspected stolen items when they made the arrest, according to the second news release.
The public provided key information in the case. “The Sheriff’s Office,” Cipolla said, “would like to thank the community for their assistance and cooperation, which played a key role in bringing this case to a successful conclusion.”
