Man Pleads Guilty to Felony Larceny of Power Tools from Home Depot in 2024
NORFOLK, Va. — Erik Jamaal Watford, 41, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to grand larceny after he shoplifted merchandise from the Home Depot last year.
On Feb. 22, 2024, Mr. Watford entered the Home Depot on North Military Highway, loaded a shopping cart with multiple power tools valued at $1,084, and walked out of the store with the tools without paying. The store’s loss prevention officer contacted Norfolk Police, stopped Mr. Watford outside, and recovered all the merchandise.
Theft of property worth $1,000 or more is a felony in Virginia. Pursuant to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office’s policy regarding thefts of property worth less than $2,500, the Office reviewed the case to determine whether a conviction for a misdemeanor larceny — which carries a possible jail sentence of 12 months — would best serve the public interest. Because of Mr. Watford’s extensive prior history of felony larceny convictions, the Commonwealth concluded that it was just and appropriate to proceed on this case as a felony.
On Wednesday, Mr. Watford pleaded guilty as charged to grand larceny and agreed to face an active sentence of up to two years and five months in prison. Judge Robert B. Rigney accepted Mr. Watford’s guilty plea and deferred convicting Mr. Watford, pending a review of Mr. Watford’s pre-sentence report on June 27.
“I would like to express my appreciation to the loss-prevention officer at Home Depot, who for many years has been a vital partner in detaining shoplifters, providing vital video evidence, and testifying in court,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “The businesses who have the greatest success in holding down shoplifting are the ones like Home Depot who devote resources to spotting shoplifters and who empower their staff to detain shoplifters until the police arrive. The police cannot arrest someone who gets away, and we cannot prosecute someone the police cannot arrest. Prevention is the best solution, and we succeed when we work on these cases together.”
Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Christina L. Brady is prosecuting Mr. Watford’s case, and Norfolk Police Detective Kevin M. Rose led the investigation.
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