By Natalie Demaree
Merced Sun-Star (Merced, Calif.)
CHESTER, Va. — An accused shoplifter tried sneaking away with a cart full of items during a holiday shopping event in Virginia involving dozens of law enforcement officials, police said.
Police officers and sheriff’s deputies gathered at a Walmart Supercenter on Sunday, Dec. 1, in Chester for the annual “Shop With a Cop” event, a Chesterfield County Police Department spokesperson told McClatchy News.
But the day took a surprising turn, police said.
As approximately 50 law enforcement officials were spread throughout the store shopping with kids, a 32-year-old man was caught on video surveillance trying to leave the store with nearly $1,400 worth of merchandise, the spokesperson and Chesterfield County Police Lt. James Lamb told McClatchy News.
“A couple officers came to the Garden Center, which is kind of like the staging area for the Shop With a Cop at the Chester Walmart, and said, ‘hey, they’re asking us to go break away, to go help them with the shoplifter,’” Lamb said.
Officers and staff looking at security footage saw the man try to head toward the Garden Center exit, but after encountering several officers, he went a different way, Lamb said.
Then the man went through another door that led to a fenced-in area where officers detained him, according to police.
Lamb said it surprised him that anyone would attempt to shoplift, given the amount of police presence.
“The parking lot was full of marked police cars, and there were uniform personnel throughout the entire store,” he said.
The 32-year-old was arrested and charged with grand larceny and served an arrest warrant related to a previous shoplifting incident, according to police.
Chester is about a 15-mile drive south from Richmond.
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