TICKFAW - Deputies arrested a man after it was found he had allegedly stolen dozens of items from a Walmart while dressed as a store employee. 

According to the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office, detectives received a tip in late June that Joseph Hollingsworth, 47, was on a burglary streak "throughout southeast Louisiana." Deputies weren't aware of any cases within Tangipahoa Parish, but an investigation into a burglary of a Picayune Walmart led investigators to find Hollingsworth a suspect. 

The Picayune Police Department said the suspect dressed as a Walmart employee and, over the course of seven hours, entered and reentered the store several times, stealing items as he went. He also was seen disabling the fire alarm and entering the store after business hours to take more merchandise. 

Deputies searched Hollingsworth's home and found not only the Walmart uniform he wore during the burglary but also the shoes he was seen wearing on security footage from the store. 

He was arrested for possession of stolen property as well as drug-related charges. 

TPSO detectives recovered 173 items from Hollingsworth's home totaling $6,950. Hollingsworth also had other stolen items not from the Picayune Walmart that he had amassed from several other burglaries. He has also been named as a suspect in a burglary of a Slidell Walmart. 

Detectives said the arrest of Hollingsworth helped close the cases of six commercial burglaries going back to 2020.