What started as a routine retail stroll ended in a milk-soaked bust after deputies say two women walked out of a Florida store carrying bags stuffed with stolen baby formula — hundreds of dollars’ worth in plain sight.
According to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, the incident unfolded Wednesday in Stuart, where police received reports of two women acting suspiciously after leaving a retail store. Detectives tracked the pair to a Walgreens near Salerno Road and Kanner Highway, where the situation allegedly escalated quickly.
Shoppers enter a Walgreens drug store that’s to close May 19 along Kings Highway near Chapel Avenue.
As deputies approached the store, they said they watched the two women exit carrying bags filled with baby formula — not a can or two, but armloads. Investigators detained the women and searched their vehicle, where they say they discovered even more stolen formula.
By the time the inventory was complete, deputies reported recovering about 160 cans of baby formula with an estimated value of $8,000.
The suspects were identified as Summer Bryant, 36, and Andrea Williams, 38. Both women were arrested at the scene and booked into the Martin County Jail.
The sheriff’s office did not release details about where the formula was allegedly taken from before the Walgreens stop, nor whether investigators believe the thefts were part of a larger organized retail crime effort. Authorities have increasingly flagged baby formula thefts nationwide, as the product’s high resale value has made it a frequent target.
