Jonathan Carlton (Monticello Police Department).
In a shoplifting scheme on Saturday afternoon, a father put Walmart merchandise inside a shopping cart and left his teenage son all alone to sneak it out of the store, according to the Monticello Police Department in Kentucky. It didn’t work, officers said.
Jonathan Carlton, 32, is charged with abandonment of a minor, unlawful transactions with a minor, and endangering the welfare of a minor.
Officers claim that a store guard caught the child. Cops got the call, and an officer, identified by the department as Major Josh Asberry, found the adult Carlton nearby at the Cumberland Crossing Center, police say.
“Carlton was located nearby in the Cumberland Crossing Center by Major Asberry and taken into custody,” cops wrote on Facebook. “He was processed and lodged in the Wayne County Detention Center.”
Police wrote in an affidavit viewed by Law&Crime, “[The boy] was stopped attempting to push the cart past all the points of purchase. During the investigation [the son] stated his father put him up to pushing the stuff out and his father left him there.”
The stepmother was outside, and said that her husband stepped out of the store, and made her leave the area, cops claim. She allegedly said she drove to the Monticello Motel, where they were staying. Neither of them contacted law enforcement regarding the boy, according to officers.
“At no point did Jonathan Carlton or [the stepmother] contact law enforcement in regards to the [son],” police wrote.
Officers did not announce charges against the stepmother. Her name does not appear in Kentucky state court records.
“The investigation is ongoing is on going with CPS involvement,” cops said.
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