A daring game of hide-and-seek with the police landed an Atlanta man behind bars after a suspected shoplifting incident in Gwinnett County. Gwinnett County officers, dispatched to a theft call at a local Walmart, found their alleged shoplifter attempting to make a swift exit, only to later discover him stashed away in a residential storage shed. The pursuit, which quickly went from foot to airborne with the assistance of the Gwinnett County Aviation Unit, saw the man attempting to make an unlikely escape before being sniffed out by a K-9 unit.
Walter Burrell Johns, 33, was identified as the suspect who chose to suddenly bolt into a nearby neighborhood when police tried to approach him at the Walmart on the 1800 block of Rockbridge Road last Wednesday. This set off an extensive search which included officers on the ground and the watchful eyes of a police helicopter, all determined to locate Johns, according to FOX5 Atlanta.
The persistent efforts of law enforcement paid off when the K-9 unit found Johns hiding in the shed, a place he may have considered momentarily safe. Details regarding the items Johns is accused of stealing have not been disclosed, but the charges he now faces are clear: theft by shoplifting and willful obstruction of law enforcement officers, as confirmed by Gwinnett police.
Following the shed discovery, Johns was unceremoniously taken to Gwinnett County Jail. "The Gwinnett County Aviation Unit spotted the man running in the area," officials recounted, detailing the sequence of events that led to the arrest. Johns is now awaiting the consequences of his alleged bid to outmaneuver the law – an effort that came to an abrupt end when the K-9's nose proved to be too keen for Johns to hide any longer, as WSB-TV reported.
The incident serves as a reminder of the wide net cast by law enforcement in their pursuit of alleged criminals, utilizing both traditional means and high-tech equipment to ensure those suspected of breaking the law are captured, even if it means searching high and low to track down an elusive suspect.
