Cops say he stole a ‘pink vibrating device’ from a Florida Target. Then they ran his tags

Madeleine Marr
·2 min read
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A Florida man allegedly stole “personal care” items from a Target on Monday evening, and the embarrassing arrest was all caught on bodycam, local police say.

According to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to the store in Palm Coast, about a half hour north of Daytona Beach, around 6 p.m. in reference to a theft.

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The suspect was driving a white pickup matching the vehicle description given by loss prevention officers; the Flagler Sheriff’s Communications Section advised deputies that the car’s owner, David Romero, had a felony warrant out for his arrest in Putnam County for third-degree grand theft.

As Romero was just about to reverse out of the parking lot, they pulled up and told him to step out of the vehicle.

Bodycam footage posted on the sheriff’s Facebook page shows the tense interaction.

“Step away from the truck,” a deputy yells.

Another deputy then orders Romero in Spanish:

“Anda por atras! Ven para aca!” (Walk back! Come here!)

Romero complies, placing his arms behind his back as he is cuffed, the bodycam shows.

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While placing the defendant in their patrol car, “a pink vibrating device fell out of Romero’s pants,” says the FB post.

It was later revealed that Romero had stolen the sex toy from Target, which provided surveillance video of the suspect “stuffing several personal care items inside tan shapewear he had picked up inside the store.”

Other pinched merchandise included Trojan and SKYN condoms, Hello Cake lubricant and Promescent, a men’s “climax control spray,” all of which were later found in his car, say police, who added that Romero did pay for some groceries at the self-scan checkout before exiting.

Romero explained to deputis that he was going to use the sex aids on his wife because he could not spend Father’s Day with her, says the police report.

Romero, who also faces charges in the Putnam County case, was placed under arrest and is facing one count of petit theft, and four counts of first-degree larceny for property worth between $100 and $300.

Romero was booked into the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility, held on $3,000 bond.

“Our message is loud and clear for criminals and fugitives,” said Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly. “If you set foot in Flagler County as a fugitive or to commit a crime, we will find you and arrest you.”