The St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has charged Shelly Hampton, 32, of Maplewood, and Kenneth Coleman, 33, of St. Louis with Stealing $25,000 or more, a C Felony. The court ordered each held on a $75,000 bond, cash only, no 10%, no surety.
According to a probable cause statement signed by an Overland Police Department detective, the defendants stole merchandise worth in total at least $36,647.18 at nine Home Depot stores in St. Louis County between January 29, 2021 and May 4, 2022. They used two methods.
In some instances they selected a high-dollar value item from the displays, placed a sticker on the item with a code for an inexpensive package of baby wipes, then scanned the items at the self-serve checkout and paid for them at the significantly lower cost. In other instances they loaded items into shopping carts and pushed them out of the store without paying. They were identified from surveillance video and by other means, such as a visible tattoo on defendant Hampton’s hand. Hampton confirmed that a green Chevrolet van, identified as the suspect vehicle in many of the thefts, belonged to her.
These are the nine Home Depot stores listed in the PC statements:
8901 Page Avenue,
37 Ellisville Towne Centre Drive,
390 THF Boulevard,
10890 Sunset Hills Plaza,
7481 South Lindbergh Boulevard,
13915 New Halls Ferry Road,
13929 Manchester Road,
11215 St. Charles Rock Road,
and 1603 South Hanley Road.
“This wasn’t about need, it was about greed,” said St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell. “Stealing and thefts will not be tolerated in St. Louis County and will be prosecuted.”
The range of punishment for a class C felony is three to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or by both imprisonment and a fine.
