On Aug. 8, a 33-year-old Ortonville woman was caught trying to exit an Oxford Township grocery store on N. Lapeer Rd., with $481 worth of merchandise she hadn’t paid for.

According to an Oakland County Sheriff’s deputy report, the loss prevention officer for the store noticed the woman, accompanied by two small children and another in a baby seat, putting items under the baby seat. When she went to check out, she scanned 12 of 26 items in her cart. The report states the officer then saw her use her phone to pay with her phone – the transaction didn’t happen. When she was exiting the store, the report states, the officer asked her back into the store. When the officer asked her to see her identification she reportedly asked if she left the items in the store, could she retrieve her identification from her car. The officer reportedly told her if she left the building, he would call the police.

She exited the building, rushing to a black Chevrolet Equinox, with her three children. The officer called the Sheriff’s office.

According to the report, deputies contacted the woman who admitted she was at the store, but claimed the incident was all a misunderstanding. Deputies looked into her background and discovered she had six other retail fraud infractions, the last being in March. As of printing, the Oxford incident has been turned over to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office.