Two Michigan men were arrested for felony shoplifting after customers at Home Depot intervened in their escape when they reportedly stole tool kits valued at $4,732.
The customers brandished an unloaded gun, slashed a tire with a knife, and punched another customer who was mistaken for the shoplifter.
The alleged shoplifters were nabbed at the rest area on southbound Interstate 75, trying to change the flat tire. Arrested were Sean Hawes, 36, of Dryden, Michigan, and Ibrahim Fayz, 55, of Dearborn, Michigan.
Bowling Green Police Division arrived at Home Depot, 1169 S. Main St., Wednesday at 11:42 a.m., for the reported theft. Officers spoke with three customers who reportedly heard people yelling as Hawes pushed a cart loaded with tools in the parking lot.
One of the witnesses confronted the man with an unloaded gun, then stabbed the right rear tire to prevent the Cadillac SUV from leaving the lot. Another man put the suspect in a headlock, but then was punched by a woman, who thought he was the shoplifter.
During the scuffle, the suspect lost a shoe, hat and glove.
The alleged shoplifter was able to get the tools into the back of the SUV, then took off with the back hatch open, speeding toward South Main Street. The vehicle then slowed down, and Fayz ran after it and jumped in the back hatch and closed it.
The vehicle then reportedly ran a red light, turned south onto Main Street, then east onto U.S. 6.
Soon after, two Wood County Sheriff’s deputies found the two men changing a tire in the southbound rest area on Interstate 75. Hawes reportedly only had one shoe.
The tools, still with the security devices on them, were reportedly found in the back of the SUV.
Video from inside Home Depot reportedly shows both Hawes and Fayz loading a cart with tool kits, then splitting up. Hawes reportedly walked out a door without paying, and Fayz walked out another door.
Fayz told officers that he barely knows Hawes, and didn’t know he was going to steal anything. But when people started yelling at the checkout, he realized what was happening. Fayz said he ran outside so he wasn’t left behind since he lives so far away.
BG officers reported city cameras showed the license plate of the Cadillac SUV had been removed before the vehicle reached city limits. Hawes reportedly said he owned the Cadillac, but it is registered to another person. Hawes was found to reportedly have multiple theft warrants and a long criminal history of theft.
Both men were lodged in the Wood County Jail.
