An Athens man who was caught shoplifting in the Eatonton Walmart reportedly thought he couldn’t be arrested because he was still inside the store. He is currently behind bars in the Putnam County jail, according to jail reports.
Johnathon Edward Baldwin, 26, of Minor Street in Athens, was arrested around 8 p.m.
Dec. 16 on charges of felony theft by shoplifting and misdemeanor willful obstruction of law enforcement officers.
The retail store’s loss prevention officer called Eatonton Police Department and reported a possible shoplifting in progress and officers Alex Rickey, Mike Hancock, and Sgt. Harold “Buddy” Bowman responded, according to an incident report by Rickey.
Looking at the store’s security camera footage, Bowman saw Baldwin putting power tools and electronics in a black suitcase and backpack and then walking toward the section where bicycles are sold. The officers saw Baldwin pushing a shopping cart with the black suitcase in it; when Baldwin saw Rickey, he reportedly ran in the other direction. The officer chased Baldwin through the store and the shoplifter was intercepted by Sgt. Bowman at the front of the store. As he was being handcuffed, Baldwin yelled that the officers could not arrest him if he hadn’t made it out of the store yet, according to the report.
“Once you conceal the items, it doesn’t matter if you’re still inside the store,” Police Chief Howell Cardwell explained.
Georgia Code 16-8-14 states that “a person commits the offense of theft by shoplifting when such person… with the intent of appropriating merchandise… without paying for (it)… conceals or takes possession of the goods or merchandise… alters the price tag or other price markings on goods or merchandise… transfers the goods or merchandise of any retail establishment from one container to another… interchanges the label or price tag from one item of merchandise with a label or price tag for another item… or wrongfully causes the amount paid to be less than the merchant’s stated price for the merchandise.”
Cardwell said the items Baldwin had packed in the suitcase and backpack were valued at $1,200. Any value amount over $500 is a felony.