Philadelphia police are searching for a registered sex offender after he managed to scam Walmart with a crossbow.
Cumberland County investigators are searching for Shawn Whiddon, 51, after he fled with the gun in Lower Allen Township on Tuesday.
Police say Whiddon was able to scan a barcode that was registered as a child’s crossbow valued at $25, but walked away with an adult one valued at $239.
Officers also suspect Whiddon committed a similar robbery at another nearby store and are seeking him for unlawful use of a computer and retail theft.
Whiddon was placed on the sex offenders’ register after being convicted in 2001 of attempted “carnal knowledge”.
Cumberland County investigators are searching for 51-year-old Shawn Whiddon after he took the gun in Lower Allen Township on Tuesday.
Police say Whiddon was able to scan a barcode that was registered as a child’s crossbow valued at $25, but walked away with an adult one valued at $239.
The incident occurred in Bedford County, Virginia, and he was originally charged with “taking indecent liberties with a child.”
No further details of the case are known at this time. He was ordered not to have contact with his victim and was sentenced to three years in prison.
In November 2007, Whiddon was also arrested after robbing a bank in Augusta, Georgia, of just over $4,100.
In court documents seen by DailyMail.com, he walked into Regions Bank and told the teller: “I need all your hundreds, fifties and twenties.”
The cashier said she initially thought Whiddon was joking because he was smiling, before adding: “This is not a joke. There are no dice packs or money as bait. Don’t make me go back there or hurt anyone. I’m desperate.”
Officers found his car abandoned in the area after the incident with handwritten notes requesting money from the bank, but he did not use them in the robbery.
After police caught him later that day inside a motel, he gave a full confession.
In November 2007, Whiddon was also arrested after robbing a bank in Augusta, Georgia, of just over $4,100.
Police say Whiddon walked away with an adult crossbow valued at $239. Pictured here is a Barnett Expedition crossbow priced at $239 at Walmart
Later in 2008, Whiddon told a sentencing judge that he had suffered from a drug problem for years and had robbed the bank to pay off drug dealers he owed them.
For the robbery he was sentenced to six and a half years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
In a court transcript, Whiddon previously told a judge he was divorced and had two children of his own.
He also said that his occupation had been that of an accountant in a plastics store in New York City.
