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In Springfield, Illinois, a man was taken into custody following an incident at a Walgreens where he allegedly threatened an employee with a knife. The arrest took place on Tuesday in the vicinity of the store located on Clear Lake Avenue, as detailed in a report by Officer Jake Garrett.
Authorities were alerted to the situation shortly before 9:30 a.m. when dispatch received a call about a potential weapon threat. The caller described a biracial man dressed entirely in red reportedly menacing a Walgreens staff member with a knife, according to Officer Garrett.
Officers responding to the scene quickly identified 34-year-old Princeton Bolden, who matched the description provided. Upon detaining Bolden, police discovered a silver folding pocketknife in his possession.
Responding officers located 34-year-old Princeton Bolden nearby; Garrett said he matched the suspect description. Bolden was detained and officers found a silver folding pocketknife in his pocket.
“While Officer [Kyle] Duval was reading Princeton his Miranda rights, he spontaneously uttered statements about being in a verbal disturbance with the Walgreens employee,” Garrett said. “I spoke to the Walgreens employee that identified Princeton as the subject that threatened to stab him. He stated that he asked Princeton to leave and that Princeton walked towards him with a silver folding knife in his hand and threatened to stab him.”
Garrett said the store’s surveillance footage showed Bolden approaching the employee, but he was unable to see what was in Bolden’s hand due to the quality of the footage.
Garrett added that after placing Bolden under arrest, he took him to a squad car and placed him inside.
“When [Bolden] sat down in the squad car, I started to shut the door and he started to kick the door multiple times trying to stop me from closing it,” Garrett said. “After I shut the door, he continued to kick it, causing damage to the door to bow out slightly. An Internet search shows that to fix or replace the door would cost from $500-$2500.”
As a result of this incident, Bolden was charged with a felony count of criminal damage to government property and a misdemeanor count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Court records show he appeared before a judge on Wednesday; Bolden was arraigned and was allowed to leave police custody with conditions.
He is due back in court on April 30 for a preliminary hearing.