Two Arrested For Stealing Electronics From Walmart

Brittany Koppenjan and Ryan Powell (Photos courtesy Ocean County Jail)

  STAFFORD – Two Ocean County residents have been charged after shoplifting several electronic items from a local Walmart Friday evening, police said.

  Officers from the Stafford Township Police Department’s Drug Enforcement Unit were dispatched to the Manahawkin Walmart around 6:45 p.m. where two people were seen stealing electronic items by concealing them in bags. The two then walked past the checkout counter and exited the store, police said.

  Officers approached the two in the parking lot and subsequently placed them under arrest.

  Police found the stolen items and also found them to be in possession of drugs while searching them.

  Additionally, police learned they both had multiple arrest warrants from the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department and the Berkeley Township and Seaside Heights Municipal Courts.

  Brittany Koppenjan, 30, from Lacey, and Ryan Powell, 36, from Seaside Heights, were both were charged with shoplifting and possession of drugs. They were transported to the Ocean County Jail in lieu of their outstanding warrants pending future appearances in multiple jurisdictions.

  “Shoplifting and drug related offenses are related due to the fact that shoplifting leads to the black-market sales of stolen items, and in turn is used to buy, possess, and sell narcotics,” Stafford Police said.

  The public and are reminded that all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.