Man steals bras for his girlfriend getting out of jail

A man told an Ocala police officer he wanted to do something nice for his girlfriend, who will be released from jail later this month, so he stole two brassieres from Walmart. Johnnie L. Brown, 29, was arrested shortly before 7 p.m. Tuesday and charged with retail petit theft. “She has done so much for me,” Brown said later of the woman who has been his girlfriend for three years, “and I felt I had to support her.”

On Tuesday, a Walmart loss prevention employee noticed a suspicious person in a motorized wheelchair in the infant section, according to a police report. He saw Brown — who said later that one of his feet has been amputated — enter the women’s section and pick up two brassieres. He then went to another section, where police say he stuffed the items into his pants.



The bras were valued at $7 and $13. One was red and the other zebra-striped. Brown went to the self checkout area and paid for some items, but not the brassieres, and then left the store. He was detained by store officials, who called police.

Bail was set at $500, and Brown was released on Wednesday. At the time of his arrest, Brown said, he had $350 in his pocket. But that was rent money, he said, and he had to make it stretch. Times are rough, and sometimes you’ve got to take chances, he said. “I messed up, but I ain’t sorry about it.”