Two Philadelphia men have been arrested for multiple robberies at a Bucks County liquor store, wherein they allegedly concealed stolen tequila bottles under girdles, as per Bensalem Police Department reports. The two accused, identified as Willie Floyd Upson, 44, and Barry Ali Bailey, 47, are facing charges of retail theft and criminal conspiracy, according to NBC Philadelphia.
The thefts occurred at the Fine Wine & Good Spirits store on the 2200 block of Galloway Road in Bensalem throughout December. Surveillance footage revealed that the suspects were dropped off and later picked up by a dark green Toyota Tundra with New Jersey plates. Police have managed to finally apprehend the pair on Dec. 27. To quickly respond to the store manager's immediate call recognizing the suspects from previous incidents was instrumental in capturing the perpetrators, leading to the arrest of Upson and Bailey, who were sent to Bucks County Correctional Facility, as per details provided by Patch.
Focusing on the series of thefts, the first incident was reported on Dec. 10 when the suspects took multiple bottles of tequila and concealed them, walking out without paying, explained the police officials. Following this event, there was a similar occurrence on Dec. 19, where the suspects employed the same method to take more bottles of alcohol. As reported by PhillyBurbs, the stolen tequila was valued at over $900.
Digging deeper into the investigation, police said that on Dec. 27, when the suspects visited the store again, the manager promptly called the authorities who found the Toyota Tundra parked nearby. The response led to the detaining of two additional individuals on unrelated outstanding shoplifting warrants, discovered inside the SUV. Police confirmed that the same vehicle was present during the second theft, according to information obtained from Patch. Upon searching the suspects, officers unearthed the shapewear garments that were used to hide the stolen merchandise.
In addition to the arrests of Upson and Bailey, multiple new bottles of tequila were recovered from the suspects' vehicle. Further evidence acquired confirmed additional bottles of tequila, valued at $329.97, were stolen during the Dec. 27 incident. After their arrests, charges were filed with Upson receiving six felony counts of retail theft and criminal conspiracy, while Bailey faces six misdemeanor charges, detailed in reports by PhillyBurbs. Both suspects were held on significant bail, set at $50,000 and $40,000, respectively.
