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Two West Hall football players charged with shoplifting
OsborneLira
Tyrese Jakare Osborne, left, and Bertin Georges Lira, right.

FLOWERY BRANCH - Two West Hall High School football players are accused of taking smartphone accessories from a Flowery Branch department store, police said.

Tyrese Jakare Osborne, 17, and Bertin Georges Lira, 18, were charged with misdemeanor shoplifting. Both were booked into the Hall County Jail and then released.

According to a Flowery Branch Police report, two men and two women entered the Target on Spout Springs Road around 2:30 p.m. Aug. 4.

According to the police report, a Target loss prevention officer told police “one of the male subjects gets a pair of scissors and removes an iPhone 6/6s plus rechargeable case from a locking peg hook.”

“He then hands the scissors to the other male subject and he exits the electronics section,” the report stated.

While one Target employee followed the first suspect, another man reportedly took the scissors and used them “to detach a iPhone 6/6s plus rechargeable case from a locking peg hook and then enter another (aisle) and dump the scissors.”

“(The employee) then sees this subject select a power bank and remove it from its package and the subject then leaves the empty package on the shelf,” according to the report.

The suspects reportedly placed the items in their pockets and walked past the registers without paying.

“The two male subjects walk to a nearby store where they are picked up by the two female subjects and they exit the parking lot,” according to the report.

In the video, police said one of the suspects was wearing a West Hall shirt.

A school resource officer identified the two suspects as Lira and Osborne, and that they both play football. Police then spoke with West Hall Principal Scott Justus and football coach Tony Lotti.

When contacted, Lotti declined to comment. Justus said he was unable to comment on student matters.

Osborne also declined to comment when contacted. Attempts to reach Lira for comment were unsuccessful.