A man suspected of shoplifting at the Wal-Mart on Highway 99 was arrested Friday after allegedly injuring an employee while fleeing the store. Gary Lee Johnson, 53, of Portland made his first appearance in court Monday, and was held on $75,000 bail on suspicion of first-degree burglary.
According to a probable cause declaration, officers responded following a report of a man running out of the Hazel Dell Wal-Mart after committing a theft.
A responding officer saw a man, who had just clambered over a chain-link fence nearby, running away, according to court documents. Officers eventually caught up with the man, identified as Johnson, hiding under a car parked at the nearby Bridge Creek apartment complex.
Security staff at Wal-Mart showed officers video footage of Johnson allegedly taking a car battery to the return counter for a refund. Although the serial number on the battery did not match the receipt, the store refunded the money.
According to court documents, while the customer service staff were processing the refund, security personnel were reviewing other surveillance video and saw Johnson enter the store and grab a fresh battery off of the shelf.
When confronted at the return counter, Johnson allegedly wriggled free of a store employee’s grasp and vaulted over the return counter toward the door.
As he leaped over the counter, another employee tried to grab him but slid and fell, scraping his knee and cutting his finger deep enough to need stitches, court records said.
When officers found Johnson, he allegedly had an amount of cash similar to what he was handed at the store’s return counter.
Store employees said Johnson had been banned from any Wal-Mart store by a June court order.
In court records, investigators said Johnson has been involved in three other store thefts in the past six months, two at Wal-Marts in Clark County and another at a Fred Meyer in North Portland.
Johnson’s arraignment hearing was set for Friday.
