Police investigating store theft in Osceola County

ST. CLOUD, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A woman has been arrested, accused of trying to steal from a store that she frequents.  Police said the hour-long ordeal was caught on camera.

Osceola Farm and Ranch Supply owner Dave Rutherford said the woman caught on the store's surveillance video is not only a frequent customer, but one he has given free items to when she couldn't afford them.

"This particular person we've carried before, you know, for a few days, until they had the money," Rutherford told FOX 35.   "So when someone comes here in the middle of the night and steals from ya, it's heartbreaking." 

He said the woman filled her car with about $200 worth of merchandise from his feed store and a nearby nursery. He was in shock to know someone he tried to help would do such a thing.

"[It's] absolutely, absolutely a slap in the face."

St. Cloud PD got a tip that something suspicious was going on at the store, and the woman was arrested at the scene.  Rutherford said he's had enough.

"I don't think I could help her. I don't think I can help her anymore. If she would've come to me first, it would've been no question. We help everybody."

Items like feed, hay, and plants will remain outside of the store overnight. Rutherford said one bad apple won't stop him from using the store's four-decade tradition of the honor system.