Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Crystal Lashay Cook, 33, was arrested yesterday for allegedly stealing two sanders from Home Depot and immediately taking them to a pawn shop.

At about 3:47 p.m. on December 16, an employee of Home Depot (5150 NW 13th Street) stopped a woman carrying two sanders (one valued at $84 and one valued at $71.86) and asked her for a receipt, but the woman ignored her and walked out of the store with the sanders.

The store’s Loss Prevention Officer (LPO) reviewed store surveillance video and saw that the woman entered the store at 3:44 p.m., went straight to the sanders, selected two sanders, and walked out three minutes later. The LPO extracted still photos of the woman’s face and sent them to the Gainesville Police Department, where an officer used facial recognition software to identify the woman as Cook.

A patrol officer went to the store to take the theft report, and he reportedly recognized Cook immediately in the surveillance video because he had recently interacted with her in an unrelated case.

Another officer checked the pawn database for Cook’s name and found that she had pawned two sanders for $40 at 4:10 p.m. on the day of the theft, attesting that the sanders were hers. The surveillance video at the pawn shop showed Cook wearing the same clothes that could be seen in the Home Depot surveillance video.

A warrant for her arrest was issued on January 3, and she was arrested on January 7.

Cook has been charged with dealing in stolen property, petit theft with two or more previous convictions, and providing fraudulent information when pawning items. Cook has seven misdemeanor convictions (one violent) and is on probation for petit theft. Judge Meshon Rawls set bail at $60,000.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.