Shopper Charged With Stealing $867 Worth of Perfume From Boca Raton Store

Andy Gil Alberto (Photo: Palm Beach County Jail)

A Miami man was arrested Sunday on a felony grand theft charge after police say he walked out of Saks Fifth Avenue at Town Center at Boca Raton with two bottles of perfume worth about $790, according to a Boca Raton Police Department report.

Andy Gil Alberto, 46, was arrested after a store loss prevention officer watching surveillance cameras saw a man enter the Louis Vuitton boutique inside the store and spray samples of perfume on his arm. The man allegedly pocketed a bottle of cologne, then picked up a second bottle, sprayed it on his arm and turned to block his right side from the camera’s view.

The report says he then walked to the east exit, bypassing all registers, and left the store at about 4:34 p.m. Police said the total loss was $790 before taxes and $867.98 after taxes.

The loss prevention officer lost sight of the man but found him about 10 minutes later outside Nordstrom, a nearby store, the report said. She detained him and recovered a 2.7-ounce bottle of perfume with a “tester” sticker that she recognized as belonging to Nordstrom, according to the affidavit. That bottle is being investigated under a separate case number.

Neither bottle taken from Saks was recovered, police said. Officers found a set of keys in Gil Alberto’s pocket but could not locate a vehicle.

Gil Alberto told officers he did not speak English, so an officer who speaks Spanish interpreted. After being read his Miranda rights in Spanish, he said a friend dropped him at the mall around 4 p.m. and that he had called an Uber to return to Miami, according to the report. He said he was sampling perfumes when he decided to leave Saks and go to Nordstrom, where he was detained. He later said he had not called an Uber but had seen buses at the mall, which is why his friend dropped him there, the report said.

Gil Alberto remained lodged in the Palm Beach County Jail Tuesday afternoon in lieu of $6,000 combined bail on two charges.