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A rash of thefts occurring at the New Tazewell Walmart store has resulted in the arrests of a trio of family members. The parents and son were allegedly caught slipping a few items past the self-checkout device while checking out their merchandise.

The shoplifting allegedly occurred during a series of events in April and May. New Tazewell Police Sgt. Tyler Williams, who is the investigating officer, arrested and charged the three on June 2 with a total of 28 counts of conspiracy to commit theft and 31 counts of the theft of merchandise.

Kenneth Ramsey Jr., 23, was charged with 11 counts of conspiracy and 14 counts of theft. His father, Kenneth Wayne Ramsey, 51, was charged with 7 counts of conspiracy and 6 counts of theft of merchandise.

The mother, Samantha Dennie Ramsey, 45, was charged with 10 counts of conspiracy and 11 counts of theft of merchandise.

Lt. Detective Gary Ruszkowski says there have been a few incidents of shoplifting via the self-checkout at Walmart and other stores like the Dollar General that use the system.

“For the most part, those using the self-checkouts are honest,” said Ruszkowski. “We’ve arrested a few. It’s easy to detect. The machine records every transaction.”

Ruskowski says the amount of shoplifting the Ramseys allegedly did over the span of a two-month period, however, is out of the ordinary.