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Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters took swift action at a neighborhood hardware store following reports of a shoplifting incident, as confirmed by the sheriff’s office.
In JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Sheriff T.K. Waters personally apprehended a suspect on Wednesday afternoon after a shoplifting alert at a local home improvement store.
According to a social media video posted by Sheriff Waters, he was at the Home Depot on Atlantic Boulevard near Girvin Road to pick up a table when the situation escalated.
While engaged in conversation with Clem Nieto, a retired Robbery Detective from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, they were interrupted by a store employee reporting an ongoing theft.
“A staff member approached me and asked, ‘Sir, can you help us with a theft in progress?’ I responded, ‘Of course.’ I then quickly headed to the parking lot and there he was,” Sheriff Waters recounted to First Coast News on Thursday.
The sheriff said the suspect, who’s now been identified as 40-year-old Raymond Pena Jr., was trying to leave the store with about $500 worth of merchandise he hadn’t paid for.
“He’s saying ‘I didn’t do anything’ and he’s walking away,” said Waters.
When they reached out to grab the suspect, he pulled away and started running. Waters and Nieto followed.
“We ran, and he went to the grass at the edge of the parking lot,” he said.
Nieto tripped and fell and Waters continued in the pursuit, according to the sheriff.
The foot chase continued through the parking lot into a grassy area where Waters was able to get him to the ground and get leverage while the suspect struggled to get away.
“I could get him down to the ground without really hurting him, so I shoved him in the back,” Sheriff Waters said. “I got on top of him to try to gain control, get him handcuffed. He fought, flaying and trying to get up, saying ‘I didn’t do anything.’”
Waters was able to get the suspect into handcuffs and proceeded to take him into custody.
“I mean, you cant come and steal and me be there and not expect me to come catch you,” he said.
Pena has been charged with theft and resisting. He also had two active warrants for theft.
Sheriff Waters told First Coast News even after years on the job, instincts like these never go away.
“I’ve been doing this for a very long time and you just don’t work it out of your system,” he said, “It doesn’t go away, so when someone asks for help the instinct is to go do it, and that’s what it was.”