Red Bull Fails to Give Shoplifters Wings

Two Milwaukee men are finding out the hard way that Red Bull only gives you wings when you drink it—not steal it—after they were thwarted trying to allegedly steal energy drinks worth hundreds of dollars from a G.

Antonio Lavell Patton, 41, and Marvin Keith Smith, 48, were each charged in Milwaukee County Circuit Court Thursday with one count of retail theft. If convicted, they each face up to nine months imprisonment and $10,000 in fines.

According to the criminal complaint:

On Monday, a Pick ‘n Save security officer spotted the men enter the store and identified them from thefts of energy drinks at other stores. The two took a shopping cart and put a bottle of vodka on the bottom, then went to the drink aisle and filled up the cart with Red Bull and Monster energy drinks.

The men then put a bag of dog food on top of the drinks and walked the cart out of the store without paying.

The men separated and Smith was immediately apprehended by security staff. However, Patton was approached by staff, so he abandoned the cart and began to run away, but was caught by a Greenfield police officer.

The total value of the stolen drinks was estimated at $317.

Smith is also facing additional retail theft charges after he was allegedly involved in an Aug. 8 theft of $295 in Red Bull from a Pick ‘n Save store in West Allis where he and a woman are accused of walking in with a shopping cart, loading it up with drinks and then leaving without paying.

Both men are currently being held in the Milwaukee County Jail on cash bond while awaiting trial.