A man has hoodwinked Wollongong Coles out of hundreds of dollars worth of groceries by wrapping the barcodes of cheap chocolates around his finger and zapping them through self-serve checkouts in place of much pricier items. Subscribe now for unlimited access . Login or signup to continue reading Adrian Carlos Rondan mostly used the barcodes of a Caramello koala and its humble chocolate stablemate, the Chomp, to carry out the deciept.
His methods were laid bare in Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday, August 20, as a magistrate openly searched for reasons not to send the 54-year-old to jail. The court heard Rondan, of Bellambi, had been charged 19 times in the past for drug, property and traffic offences. Most recently he piqued the interest of Wollongong Police District's proactive crime team with his near-daily visits to Wollongong Central.
CCTV cameras were rolling as he passed through Coles' self-serve checkouts five times between April 7 and April 12. On his first visit he walked away with six items worth $32.70 - Bulla Cream Classics neapolitan ice cream cones, Golden Gaytime sticks and several bottles of coconut water.
Once at the self-serve, he placed his right hand over the barcodes of the items and instead scanned a separate barcode that was wrapped around his finger. The resulting receipt showed he'd bought six packets of gum worth $12. He returned the next afternoon, this time picking up a $40 insect surface spray, cockroach baits, more ice cream, more coconut water,.