Two accused shoplifters failed to escape with laptops from Wal-Mart in North Carolina after the car rental company shut down the vehicle once police located its license plate number the morning of April 10, according to Storefrontbacktalk.com, a retail technology blog.

Matthew Randall, 24, and Tommy Hairston, 32, attempted to steal two HP desktops — with a combined price tag of about $1,500 — as they simply walked out of the store with the laptops in a shopping cart, according to Diane Miller, public information officer for the city of Havelock

North Carolina Police determined the car was a rental and contacted the company, which was able to remotely shut down the engine using the GPS. The vehicle was shut down in front of the pair’s unit at a local hotel called The Hostess House, where police arrived while Hairston and Randall stood outside the vehicle with its hood up trying to figure out why the car would not start.

For the full article from Storefrontbacktalk.com, click on the URL: http://storefrontbacktalk.com/securityfraud/stealing-from-a-wal-mart-better-not-drive-a-rental/