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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowFormer state Sen. Ron Alting has been charged with six misdemeanor counts of theft less than a month after saying he was stepping down from his seat after 28 years.
The charges, levied Tuesday in Tippecanoe Superior Court, are tied to several August and September incidents at a Walmart store, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in the case.
The court documents say that in one instance, Alting and a companion, Pamela Krammes, entered a Walmart in Lafayette and placed several items in plastic shopping bags. The couple then went to a self-checkout lane, where Alting paid for a bag of chips.
Krammes then placed the chips back in their cart with the unpaid items, and the couple tried to leave the store, the affidavit states. It added that, when confronted by a loss-prevention officer, Alting said, “Oh, I am just going to go pay for these.”
Alting and Krammes then refused to cooperate with the officer when told they would need to go to an office to complete some paperwork. The affidavit said they fled, and the officer contacted Lafayette police.
The documents also say officers later found several instances in which Alting entered the store, gathered plastic grocery bags, put merchandise in them, paid for only a few items and then left.
Krammes was charged with four counts of theft, according to a separate affidavit.
Both Alting and Krammes did not immediately respond Wednesday to emailed requests for comment from The Indiana Lawyer.
In October, Alting said he would resign his seat, weeks after allegations about shoplifting broke.
He said then in a lengthy Facebook post that he had been undergoing medical evaluation “for concerning changes in my judgment, behavior and cognitive functioning.” He added that he had done some things during that time that “were wrong and deeply out of character for me.”
Alting, 70, was on the ballot for reelection against Democrat Natasha Baker but stepped back from campaigning. Baker won the seat earlier this month.
In a short Election Night speech, Alting congratulated Baker and then asked his audience to “just keep me in your prayers as I continue through my life,” according to Based in Lafayette Indiana by Dave Bangert.
Alting was first elected to the Indiana Senate in 1998 after serving on the Lafayette City Council for three years.
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