Huntsville City Councilman Devyn Keith is accused of shoplifting 31 different times at three separate Walmart stores during the past 2½ months, according to police records obtained by AL.com.
Video footage captured at least 15 of the incidents, which happened at the store on University Drive, says the report written by a Huntsville police officer. Those incidents amounted to $331, according to the report.
“During this investigation by Walmart Loss Prevention, the majority of the times that Mr. Keith went to Walmart, he committed theft by skip scanning,” the report states. Skip scanning occurs when someone using the self-checkout line fails to scan one or more of the items.
Read more: Huntsville councilman shoplifted $491 in groceries, other items over 2½ months, warrants state
The Huntsville Police Department has not released the incident report to the public, but AL.com obtained a copy from a source and independently verified its authenticity. The police also have not released any video footage or other evidence in the case.
The incidents at all three stores happened between Nov. 14, 2022 and Feb. 2 of this year, according to the report AL.com obtained.
“At advice of my legal counsel, I will no longer be discussing my ongoing litigation,” Keith, the 34-year-old second-term councilman, said in a Facebook post today. “I have received a court date and I will give my final statement at tomorrow’s city council meeting.
“More importantly…know that I love you all and I thank God for you.”
Keith’s attorney, John Taylor, told AL.com that he was not aware of a court date and had just begun reviewing the allegations. He also said he did not know whether Keith will face additional charges.
Keith turned himself in to jail early this morning on four counts of fourth-degree theft, a misdemeanor. He was released on bail. Huntsville police initially arrested him on a single charge last week.
After that arrest, Keith apologized and said he made a “mistake” when he failed to pay for $20 headphones.
Keith went to the store to make a return on Thursday, Feb 2 and, according to the police report, kept a bag from the returned merchandise to “conceal” the stolen headphones.
After making his return, Keith shopped for more items and used the self-checkout, the report says. But he did not pay for the headphones.
“Mr. Keith went to the bathroom in the front of the store with his shopping cart and went inside the bathroom, leaving his shopping cart outside,” the report says. “Loss prevention associates then witnessed Mr. Keith exit the bathroom and proceed to bag some of the merchandise, including the headphones, inside of the Walmart bag he obtained from his return. Mr. Keith was then stopped by Loss Prevention when he passed all points of sale.”
By that time, Keith was already under investigation by Walmart loss prevention.
Keith first came under investigation after a worker caught him “skip scanning” items at the University store’s self-checkout on Jan. 5.
When confronted that day, Keith returned to the checkout and paid for the items he had not previously scanned, the report states, noting that the employee did not know Keith’s identity at the time.
Walmart opened an investigation and learned Keith’s identity by searching his credit card in their system, the report says.
“Once Walmart staff searched the incidences (sic) that Mr. Keith’s card was used, footage was viewed of every incident where he had purchased something from this store as far back as the data storage software would allow,” the report says.
“Video footage documenting these thefts have been recovered and produced by Walmart loss prevention staff.”
The report says that the 16 other instances of alleged shoplifting happened at the Walmart at Memorial Parkway and Drake Avenue and the store on Sparkman Drive, which is located in the north Huntsville district Keith represents on the city council. The incidents happened between Nov. 14, 2022 and Feb. 2 of this year, according to the report AL.com obtained.
Keith’s district includes much of north Huntsville, where he was raised, and stretches into the downtown area. He has been a rising star in Huntsville politics, defeating longtime councilman Richard Showers in 2016 in a runoff to join the council. Keith has long credited Showers for the impact he had on the district and on himself.
In 2018, the city council elected him as its president, despite Keith being just 29 years old and in his first term on the council. He was the youngest member of the council to be elected as its president. Keith received 64 percent of the vote in his 2020 re-election.
During his time on the city council, he relentlessly lobbied for north Huntsville – which had long suffered economically as other areas of the Rocket City blossomed. The region is starting to catch up to the rest of the city with dozens of new homes under construction and the revitalization of the former campus of Johnson High School into a mixed-use development.
He earned his undergraduate degree and played college football at Samford University in Birmingham and received his master’s degree from the University of Massachusetts in Boston.
Huntsville City Council President Devyn Keith speaks to civic leaders Dec. 12, 2019 in support of a long-term master plan for the city's west side.
AL.com reporter Paul Gattis contributed to this report.
Below is the full narrative from the police report with redaction of certain information made by AL.com. The yellow highlights were not made by AL.com.