Viral Walmart “thief” hits back at claims he was stealing groceries

A Walmart shopper was accused of theft after a viral video showed him placing numerous items into his bag without scanning them at a self-checkout line. However, he has now hit back at those claims.

Bill Astle faced backlash after a customer at the Green Mount Commons Walmart in Belleville, Illinois recorded him filling his shopping cart with groceries, seemingly without paying for them.

“This man is literally just stealing everything,” a woman behind the camera said in a short clip. “He ain’t scanning sh*t. So open about it, look at the screen, nothing ringing up.”

The 14-second video was posted on various social media platforms, and went viral with over 15.6 million views on Twitter/X. Many commenters slammed the man and accused him of theft.

“This is why Walmart is getting rid of the self-checkout. This idea backfired hard on them. Theft is through the roof,” one said. “This is why the rest of us have to pay an arm and leg for the small things,” another wrote.

But Astle, who revealed that he works for Spark, Walmart’s delivery service, insists that he’s innocent and was just doing his job. “I’m not a thief. I’m being pictured and painted as a thief on the internet,” he told First Alert 4.

He shared that as a Walmart employee, he’s able to scan products directly on his phone while picking them up. “Everything is done off the phone, so when we get to the register, we’re not actually scanning a single item,” Astle told the outlet.

When a Spark shopper reaches the register, he explained that they’re required to scan their phone using the self-checkout machine and then bag the items. By scanning the products on their phones, there is no need to scan them again at the register.

Astle is now trying to clear his name as more people approach him when he shops, asking if he was a thief. “I’ve had customers say, ‘Hey, didn’t I see you on the internet? Didn’t you steal items?’ And then I have to explain to people what I’m doing,” Astle shared.

“Had they continued the video for another 30 seconds, they would’ve seen when I got done with the Spark delivery order, I scanned two dozen roses.”