Walmart shopper Bill Astle slammed as a 'thief' for not clearing his items in viral video – but insists he was doing his job

US News

by Nicholas McIntyre

A Walmart shopper was labeled a thief when he was caught putting dozens of items in his bag without scanning them at the self-checkout line — but he said he was doing his job when he responded to the allegations.

Bill Astle faced intense online scrutiny when a shopper at the Green Mount Commons Walmart in Belleville, Illinois, recorded him loading a packed shopping cart and apparently not paying for items on May 12.

“This guy literally steals everything,” says a woman behind the camera. In a 14-second video. “It's not clearing the st. So I open the command, look at the screen, nothing rings.

The video was posted on almost every social media site, garnering more than 15.6 million views in just one post.

Many angry users took up comments about the man's “brazen theft” and used the video to criticize the supermarket chain.

“This is why Walmart got rid of self-checkout. This idea backfired on them. ‘Theft is through the roof,’” one said.

Another comment said: “This is why the rest of us have to pay a heavy price for the little things.”

Astle says the Internet jumped to conclusions and got the story wrong.

“I'm not a thief. I've been portrayed and painted as a thief online,” Astle said Tell the first alert 4.

Astle was at the Walmart location as part of his job with Walmart's delivery service, Spark.

Spark delivery drivers are given the items customers want via a phone app and scan the items in the app with their cameras while they shop.

“Everything is done over the phone, so when we get to the register, we don't actually scan a single item,” Astle said The director said.

Instead of scanning every item at the kiosk, Spark workers scan a code on their phones and can then proceed to put the items in a bag — like the viral moment when Astle was photographed.

Astle was amazed at how quickly the video spread online as viewers connected with the St. Louis team. Louis Battlehawks to condemn a fan because he was seen wearing a football team jersey.

“Please control your fans,” one person wrote.

“Kao isn't the law for him?” Another added a play on words for the Battlehawks' “Kaw is Law” slogan.

Astle's biggest hope is that he wants all the clips removed from the internet.

He added: “We'd better try to find a way to bring them down.”

Astle tries to clear his name as more people approach him as he is shopping and ask if he is a thief.

“I've had clients say to me, 'Hey, didn't I see you online?' Didn't you steal things? “Then I have to explain to people what I do,” Astle said.

The Spark worker shared two receipts for work he did inside the store for additional proof that he wasn't stealing.

However, there was one item that Astle scanned and paid for while stopping at the store, which was a bouquet of roses for his wife, but that moment happened right after the video ended.

“If they had watched the video for another 30 seconds, they would have seen when I finished the Spark delivery order, I scanned twenty roses.”