Two men were placed behind bars after being arrested by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office after allegedly stealing from Lowe’s in both Winter Haven and Auburndale.
Monte Richard and Kadin Richard were arrested for grand theft.
It should be noted that this is an unedited report of facts by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. These facts are up for question and everyone is entitled to question the validity of facts by law enforcement in a court of law. Winter Haven Daily does not rewrite these facts as some meanings or interpretations could be in error and change context. We hope readers appreciate being able to read the information and come to their own understanding and conclusions. A suspect is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
“PROBABLE CAUSE:
On 1/13/25, I was contacted by a Loss Prevention associate with Lowe’s, Jonathan Odum. Odum advised that he was following two retail theft suspects, later identified as Monte Richard and Kadin Richard. Odum stated that he observed them remove items from a Lowes in Winter Haven and followed them to Lowe’s in Auburndale. I was advised by Odum that the tag was N661105 (LA), but when the vehicle entered the parking lot, it had an automated license plate cover to prevent it from being readable. I observed Monte exit the van and enter the store. Odum advised that he was watching him on camera go up and down isles, remove the plastic security case that the products were secured in, and conceal them in a separate section of the store within a shopping cart under a blue air conditioning filter. Soon after, Kadin removed a blue seemingly Lowe’s flatbed cart from the van, placed a bag of soil on it, and pushed it into the store. Odum observed Kadin then attempting to conceal items while Monte was a lookout.
While in contact with Odum, I was advised that Monte was walking out of the main entrance. I observed Monte and detained him. On his belt was a brown satchel that was large enough to conceal a weapon. Inside the satchel was an anti-shoplifting device. Monte was on the phone with Kadin at the time I made contact with him, so Kadin heard me identify myself as Detective Wright with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. Kadin then exited the garden center entrance. Sgt. Goodlet identified himself, and Kadin began to run eastbound through the parking lot. A short time later, Kadin stopped running and returned to Sgt. Goodlet. Both subjects were secured in handcufis.
The cart Kadin was pushing into and attempted to push out of the store was modified underneath to conceal stolen merchandise. The underside of the cart contained approximately $2,091.89 worth of merchandise.
During my investigation, I determined that Monte Richard and Kadin Richard did commit grand theft from a retail store. Monte was knowingly in possession of an anti-shoplifting device. Kadin did knowingly resist without violence. Both subjects did unlawfully use a 2-way communication device to commit grand theft.”
