Five Officers Subdue Single Shoplifter

It was five versus one in the Lyndale neighborhood on Tuesday as an alleged shoplifter tried to escape police, according to a report filed by officers with the Minneapolis Police Department.

Just after noon on Oct. 30, the report said, a 22-year old Minneapolis man sauntered past the cash register and out of the Family Dollar store on the 3500 block of Nicollet Avenue. In his hands, he held two 12-packs of soda that he hadn't paid for. 

The report claims the young man was later spotted at the corner of East 36th Street and 1st Avenue South, turning southbound down the alleyway between 1st Avenue South and Nicollet Avenue. Realizing officers had spotted him, the man allegedly dropped the soda and sprinted through the yard of 3545 Stevens Avenue South in an attempt to evade officers. 

The accused shoplifter was quickly cornered in the rear of 3532 Stevens Avenue South, the report said. The report listed five officers involved in his arrest, but did not disclose whether all five were simply nearby when the shoplifting was reported and responded to the call, or were specifically dispatched to the case.

The accused was brought before the same person who said he observed him removing the soda from the Family Dollar store. The report says the reporting person identified the 22-year old as the same man who had taken the drinks. In lieu of arrest, the man was ticketed for shoplifting, the soda returned to the store, and video of the incident was inventoried in the Minneapolis Police Department's evidence storeroom.