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Two men caught shoplifting at a grocery store in Georgia had an estimated $26,000 worth of baby formula in their car, according to police.
Police in Cartersville caught the men walking out of a Publix store north of Atlanta with backpacks filled with cans of formula, news outlets reported. Officers searching their car found 662 more cans of formula inside, police Lt. Greg Sparacio said.
“We believe right now that they have hit several locations, Publix, Kroger, Walmart and more in just over a course of a couple of days,” Sparacio said.
The men were jailed in Bartow County on charges of shoplifting, felony theft by receiving, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. They had a 16-year-old girl with them when they were arrested Thursday. It was not immediately known if the men had attorneys representing them.
The February 2021 shutdown of a large baby formula factory and recall of many of its products because of contamination concerns helped trigger a nationwide formula shortage. Supplies have largely rebounded more than a year later.