By LYNETTE SOWELL-STEVENS
Cove Leader-Press
A man and a woman were arrested on Sunday by Copperas Cove police for multiple thefts from both H-E-B and Walmart in Copperas Cove.
On Sunday, Aug. 2 around 11:43 a.m., officers responded to H-E-B in Copperas Cove regarding a theft in progress.
The call was for a female suspect believed to be connected to a similar theft also at H-E-B just a few days prior, on Thursday, July 30.
Officers located the suspect’s vehicle, a red 2001 Chevrolet Silverado, and stopped it in the parking lot near the H-E-B gas pumps. H-E-B loss prevention personnel identified the pickup as the same vehicle involved in both the July 30 and Aug. 2 incidents.
Inside the truck were Michelle Lee Porter and Robert Clifton Thomas.
According to the arrest affidavit, surveillance video from the July 30 incident showed Porter entering the store, where she picked up ribeye steaks, a cooler, wild-caught warm water lobster tails, and a bag of fresh rock shrimp, with a total value of $578.80.
She then left the store via the produce side and entered a pickup, where Thomas waited behind the wheel and allegedly served as her getaway driver.
Then on Sunday, Aug. 2 at H-E-B, employees reported Porter entered the store again and selected produce, grocery items, hygiene razors and a cooler with a total value of $286.05.
As on July 30, she then left the store through the produce doors without paying but was stopped by store employees before she could reach the waiting Silverado.
“Investigators alleged Thomas was again acting as the getaway driver and had transported Porter to the store with the intent of facilitating the theft. Officers noted the pair had been involved together in multiple recent theft investigations in which Thomas allegedly waited outside while Porter entered stores and removed merchandise,” the affidavit stated.
Officers conducted a search of the Silverado and located other numerous items suspected to have been stolen from Walmart, also on Aug. 2.
Those items included various produce, various grocery items that were extremely cold to the touch, pillows, multiple cans of R-1234YF AC refrigerant, and a tote containing the merchandise, with a total value of $1,156.55.
Walmart loss prevention personnel reviewed surveillance footage and confirmed Porter had entered the Walmart store, selected merchandise without paying and exited before entering the same red Silverado.
Although Thomas was not observed inside Walmart, investigators identified him as the driver of the vehicle used to leave the scene.
The pair have been convicted for prior thefts. Porter has theft convictions from Bexar County in 2008 and Bell County in 2010. Thomas also has two prior Coryell County theft convictions from February and July 2026.
For these latest charges, Porter was charged with three counts of theft of property less than $2,500 with two or more previous theft convictions arising from the July 30 H-E-B theft, the Aug. 2 H-E-B theft and the Aug. 2 Walmart theft.
Thomas was charged with two counts of theft of property less than $2,500 with two or more previous theft convictions and one count of criminal trespass. Thomas had previously been issued a written criminal trespass warning by Walmart in September 2025, prohibiting him from entering or remaining on Walmart property.
Porter and Thomas were arraigned by Justice of the Peace Bill Price.
Porter received a $60,000 surety bond and Clifton received a $65,000 surety bond, said Lt. Rick Counter with the Copperas Cove Police Department.
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