BG police arrest men for shoplifting more than $5,000 in items

Two Toledo men arrested Wednesday for shoplifting in Bowling Green reportedly had more than $5,000 in stolen items from two stores in the car, more than 1,500 in cash, and marijuana throughout the vehicle.

Phillip Michael Brown, 29, was arrested on three active warrants from adult parole, burglary, receiving stolen property, possession of criminal tools, driving under suspension, possession of marijuana and marijuana paraphernalia. Darius Javon Edwards, 24, was arrested for burglary, receiving stolen property and possession of marijuana.

Bowling Green Police Division received a call about a theft at WalMart around 3:16 p.m. on Wednesday. Police stopped Brown’s vehicle when he pulled into the gas station at Meijer on East Wooster Street.

According to the police report, Brown had loose marijuana on the front of his clothes, and $1,010 in cash in his pocket. Edwards reportedly had two plastic bags of marijuana in his pants pocket, plus $550 in cash.

Police reported seeing loose marijuana “all over” the passenger compartment of the car, plus a glass jar of marijuana on the driver’s seat. The approximate weight of the marijuana in the car was 119 grams.

Police also saw boxes of drones and of drills in the car. Brown reportedly told police that they stole the drones from WalMart that day. He told police the other items in the car were for Christmas – however, he reportedly would not say where they were purchased.

The boxes included such items as several tool combination kits, one angle grinder, one drywall screw gun, one blade, four smart light strips, two X-Box game consoles, a duffel bag with seven Fit Bits, one smart projector, one soundbar and two drones.

Bowling Green police contacted the Rossford Home Depot store, where an employee reportedly told them that Brown and Edwards were at the store earlier on Wednesday. The employee said that one of the men was attempting to return items, when the other was reportedly leaving the store with a cart full of items without paying for them.

The items reportedly stolen from WalMart totaled $2,601, while the items allegedly taken from Home Depot added up to $2,759.

Upon checking on both suspects in the Northwest Ohio Regional Information System for law enforcement, Bowling Green police found that both Brown and Edwards are banned from any WalMart properties.