A 54-year-old Reese Street woman is suspected of stealing a gift card valued at $375.59 on Saturday from the Belk department store at Georgia Square Mall, according to an Athens-Clarke County police report released Wednesday.
A loss prevention officer told police he watched Elizabeth Jean Browning on surveillance cameras as she entered the store empty-handed and “exchanged” an item taken off a store shelf for the gift card. The employee who made the exchange said he was unable to detain her at the time, and he alerted a police officer at the mall of the theft the next day, according to police.
Browning, who according to Clarke County Superior Court records is a recidivist felony shoplifter, was identified from her driver’s license, which she had to present to a store employee when making the “exchange,” police said.
The loss prevention officer indicated that Belk wanted to prosecute and arrest warrants would be sought, according to police.