VALDOSTA — A Florida man was tased inside of a Valdosta store Saturday by police investigating shoplifting reports.
Officers responded to a store on Inner Perimeter Road around 8:15 p.m. after an E911 call that someone was shoplifting, a Valdosta Police Department statement said.
The first officer on the scene found a man in the parking lot pushing a shopping cart with several items; the man ran when the police officer tried to talk with him, the statement said.
Other officers arrived and the suspect ran back inside the store. Police ran throughout the store, and as the suspect tried to leave, one of the officers used his taser to stop the man, police said.
Officers checked the suspect for injuries but found none.
The suspect — described as a 35-year-old Gainesville, Florida, man — had active arrest warrants from Alachua County in Florida, the statement said. He was charged in Lowndes County with felony theft by shoplifting, felony fugitive from justice and misdemeanor obstruction of a law enforcement officer, police said.
Anyone with information about this case should contact the Valdosta Police Department Bureau of Investigative Services at 229-293-3145, the crime tip line at 229-293-3091, or file a tip online at www.valdostacity.com/police-department.