Man allegedly shoplifted over $1,000 during 'Shop with a Cop' event

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WKRC) — A man was arrested after he allegedly shoplifted over $1,000 worth of goods from Walmart during a "Shop with a Cop" event.

Over 50 Chesterfield County officers attended a "Shop with a Cop" event at a local Walmart, which pairs families in need with uniformed officers for a day of holiday shopping funded by donations.

While dozens of officers walked the aisles of the Walmart searching for toys and gifts, another man was allegedly getting up to no good.

"A member of the staff at Walmart came up to us and informed us they had a shoplifting in progress," Chesterfield County Police Lieutenant James Lamb told WTVR. "Between the sheriff's department and police officers we had about 50 uniform personnel at the store."

The station reported that police observed the shoplifting on the store's security cameras, and notified all units to be on the lookout for the suspect.

"As we approached from different directions, he tried to escape out the back of the store where he was apprehended," Lamb told the outlet. "I think he was stunned."

Although police initially assumed the man, identified as 32-year-old Hector D. Velazquez Maldonado, didn't see the over 50 uniformed officers in the building, his car told a different story.

"We had 30 to 40 marked patrol cars in the parking lot," Lamb said. "When we found his vehicle, it was facing where our cars were parked, so he would have had to see them. It seems it just didn't matter to him."

Police said Maldonado had attempted to steal almost $1,400 worth of items, and therefore was arrested on charges of grand larceny. They also said the man had active warrants for failing to appear in court for a previous shoplifting case, and he had multiple open larceny cases across the county, according to WTVR.