An Orlando woman is claiming an off-duty police officer who was working as security refused to help her after she said a man robbed her at Publix in the College Park area earlier this week.
Orlando police on Thursday released surveillance pictures from inside the store. The pictures show the victim, Annie Schweiger, selecting yogurt down the dairy aisle when a man stole the woman's wallet from insider her purse.
Do you know him? He took the victims wallet from Publix at 2015 Edgewater Dr while she was shopping. Call Crimeline pic.twitter.com/Vr1b4RBurH
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) April 9, 2015
Sgt. Wanda Ford, a spokeswoman with the Orlando Police Department, sent an email to News 13 on Thursday stating the agency has apologized to the victim.
"If the victim was not helped, that is unacceptable," Ford wrote in the email.
Schweiger said the incident happened Tuesday night inside the Publix in College Park, located at 2015 Edgewater Drive.
The woman said she didn't realize she was robbed until she went to pay for her groceries.
Schweiger claims she went to ask an off-duty Orlando police officer who was working security for the grocery store for help, but the officer refused to help her report the crime.
Although the police officer was technically off-duty, he was wearing his uniform and had his patrol cruiser.
"They basically just treated it like I was a dumb girl who left her wallet at home (and) that it wasn't stolen," Schweiger said. "The officer basically said if I was really concerned about it that I can go home and fill out a report online."
Ford, in her email, added: "Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We would never want a victim to feel we are not there to assist them when they have just become a victim of a crime."
Schweiger said that's not what a police officer is at the store to do.
"An officer is there to serve and protect, and I did not feel protected," she said. "I didn't feel like he was doing his job."
Schweiger said she has seen additional surveillance video from the store that shows the suspect walking out of the Publix. She also said the video shows the suspect waving to the officer who refused to help her.
The identity of the Orlando police officer in question hasn't been released.
Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to call Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS (8477).