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A Michigan shoplifter was charged with assault over the weekend after he allegedly tried to stab a police officer with a screwdriver.
The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office said officers were called to a Walmart in Sterling Heights on Sunday after Joshua Mills, 32, walked out of the store without paying for items he was carrying, WJBK reported. Mills allegedly ran from the officers, who used a taser and took him to the ground.
But when an officer began the process of arresting him, Mills sat up abruptly and aimed a screwdriver at the officer’s face, narrowly missing him.
The officers finally got him into custody after further struggling.
Mills has been charged with assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, assaulting/resisting/obstructing police, and retail fraud.
“This kind of blatant disrespect for law enforcement will not be tolerated. When an officer is carrying out a lawful arrest and is met with violence, it strikes at the heart of public safety,” Prosecutor Pete Lucido said. “The defendant’s decision to allegedly turn a routine misdemeanor arrest into a life-threatening confrontation is unacceptable, and our office will pursue this case to the fullest extent of the law.”
According to the Michigan Department of Corrections, he is already on probation for domestic violence and resisting police.
This time, Mills was given a $500,000 bond and ordered back to court for a probable cause conference on October 20.