A 35-year-old man from Florida is facing allegations of using his 6-year-old daughter in an attempted theft at a local Ace Hardware. The situation took a troubling turn when he reportedly abandoned the child in the parking lot while fleeing from a security guard.

Joshua Robert Spirit was apprehended earlier this week and now faces several charges, including child abuse without causing great bodily harm, child neglect without physical harm, and non-violent resistance to an officer, according to legal documents.

Details from an arrest report obtained by Law&Crime indicate that the incident occurred around 4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 10, at the Ace Hardware located on University Avenue in Gainesville. A security guard recounted that Spirit and his daughter were seen in the tool section, where Spirit allegedly stashed items both on himself and in his daughter’s bag. The child was reportedly acting as a lookout while her father took the goods.

The guard witnessed Spirit bypass all checkout counters and leave the store with merchandise valued at $199, as stated in the report. When the guard identified himself and tried to intervene, Spirit allegedly ignored the request to stop.

As Spirit and his daughter entered their vehicle to depart, the guard positioned himself behind the car and snapped a picture of the license plate. During this time, Spirit allegedly reversed, lightly striking the guard with the vehicle in an apparent attempt to escape. The guard then contacted 911 as Spirit drove away from the scene.

An officer with the Gainesville Police Department soon located Spirit in front of his home. When commanded to stop, Spirit allegedly “took off running,” leaving his young daughter “unattended by herself.”

A second officer soon spotted Spirit walking in the 5900 block of NW 23rd Terrace. When Spirit heard the officer tell him to stop, he allegedly “jumped over an 8-foot concrete wall” and “concealed himself in the nearby Walmart parking lot.”

A third officer said they found Spirit “hiding under a parked car on the Walmart property.” Police said Spirit began to climb back over the same concrete wall again, but saw that one of the officers pursuing him was still on the other side. Instead, he bolted into the Walmart and tried to hide. The third officer followed him into the store and deployed his Taser before placing Spirit under arrest. A blue pocket knife was recovered from Spirit’s pocket, the report says.

Records show that Spirit was previously convicted of multiple nonviolent felonies and was on probation at the time of his arrest. He was processed at the Alachua County Jail where a judge set his bond at $45,000 on the latest charges but ordered Spirit to be held without bond while his probation status is reviewed.

It was not immediately clear when he was scheduled to appear in court again.