Rochester Hills

Shoplifter reportedly pepper-sprays security officer

By Linda Shepard
C & G Staff Writer

ROCHESTER HILLS — A man attempting to leave the Meijer store with $1,200 of unpaid merchandise sprayed a loss-prevention agent in the face with pepper spray before fleeing, a police report states.

The loss-prevention agent stopped two suspected shoplifters at 11:30 p.m. Jan. 5 outside the store on Auburn Road, west of Rochester Road. Both suspects agreed to re-enter the store, but one pulled out the pepper spray in the store vestibule and sprayed the employee, police said.

Both suspects left the area in a car driven by a third suspect, the report states. Police found that the license plate number of the car registered to a residence in Madison Heights.

One suspect was described as a white man, 30 years old, 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighing 160 pounds, and wearing a plaid jacket and a green-and-white baseball hat. A second suspect was described as a white man, 30 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing 200 to 210 pounds and wearing a black jacket and a black knit cap with an old-English D.

The driver of the car is described as a white man, 50 to 60 years old, bald and wearing a leather jacket. A passenger in the getaway car is described as a white man, 20 to 30 years old, with a beard and long hair and wearing a gray hat.

Charges may include retail fraud and felonious assault, the report states. Vehicle information and the suspect descriptions were relayed to the Madison Heights Police Department.

Madison Heights police arrested John Schaff Carter after they located him driving the suspect vehicle Jan. 6. Rochester Hills deputies were contacted and transported Carter to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Rochester Hills substation.

Carter was arraigned before a magistrate at the 52-3 District Court in Rochester Hills, appearing without an attorney, in connection with the shoplifting incident. He was charged with one count of unarmed robbery.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Linda Shepard at lshepard@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1065.