FRUITPORT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) A man will spend years in prison after a cloud of noxious gas was released during a theft at the Fruitport Township Meijer.

Alexae Johnson was sentenced Thursday to five to 50 years in prison, court records show.

Earlier this year, he pleaded guilty to retail fraud and placing an explosive device with intent to alarm, according to the Fruitport Township Police Department.

It happened Sept. 24, 2024, at the Meijer on Harvey Street near E. Sternberg Road. Officers responded to the store “for the report of an unknown noxious gas” and found a small gas cloud in the store that smelled strongly of chlorine. Investigators found a plastic bottle in the home goods section, likely the result of “swimming pool type chemical(s) placed inside the bottle,” police said.

Four people were treated at a local hospital, then released.

Police said the chemical cloud was intended to distract people from a theft. They said Johnson was caught on surveillance camera and observed stealing at the same time the cloud was released.