Here at Consumerist, we’ve seen many a bad consumer try to pull off the old retail switcheroo by sticking bar codes for less expensive items on pricier products. But trying to get away with such a move using a clearly expensive TV and a barcode for a hanger? That’s just not going to fly at Walmart, as one man found out recently in Texas.

While it would be nice to pay only $1.17 for a TV, even the most blithely unaware cash register attendant is going to notice such a drastic price cut. KTXS says a man was arrested in Abilene for trying to pass off a TV valued at $228 for the price of a hanger. He’d allegedly swiped the hanger’s bar code and slapped it on the TV.

Police say the man tried his luck paying for the TV at a self-checkout station, and seemed to be successful at first, paying $1.17. That is, until the store’s loss prevention caught on and nabbed him. Walmart employees say the man attempted to hide the hanger barcode before cops showed up.

For his bit of ballsiness, the man was charged with third-degree felony tampering with evidence, state jail felony theft and class A removal of writing. Oh and, he didn’t get the TV.

Abilene Police: Man arrested after trying to buy TV for less than $2 [KTXS]

 

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