A 35-year-old man is facing a felony theft charge after police say he stole a Krispy Kreme delivery truck parked outside a South Nashville Walmart Saturday, then led officers on a short pursuit that ended in a wooded residential lot roughly a mile and a half away. Officers arrested Umar Abdul-Malik at 461 Paragon Mills Road, where the truck was last seen turning before it disappeared into the trees.
According to WSMV, Walmart security called police after Abdul-Malik was reportedly removed from the store and then took off in the Krispy Kreme truck parked outside the entrance. Employees told officers the truck was last seen turning onto Paragon Mills Road, and police soon spotted it entering a wooded area at that address, where the arrest followed.
Police say Abdul-Malik could not identify himself when officers caught up with him. He referred to himself as a professor, according to the station's report, and appeared to be under the influence of narcotics. Officers reported that he laughed for no reason, sang, and spoke of incomprehensible delusions during the encounter.
“I Had to Win the Contest”
Asked why he took the truck, Abdul-Malik told police he had to accomplish the objective, per the same account. He also said he was on a quest and had to win the contest because everything was free, according to police.
Police charged Abdul-Malik with theft of property valued at more than $60,000. Under Tennessee Code § 39-14-105, as detailed by Justia Law, theft of property valued between $60,000 and $250,000 is a Class B felony carrying eight to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000. Prosecutors are permitted under the same statute to aggregate the value of multiple stolen items in a single scheme, per FindLaw, which suggests the combined value of the commercial truck and its cargo of doughnuts factored into the felony grade — though the specific value proven at trial will ultimately determine the final charge.
A Short Trip Into a Familiar Neighborhood
The Walmart Supercenter at 4040 Nolensville Pike, where the theft began, operates as store #3717 and serves as a major commercial anchor for South Nashville, open daily from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., according to Walmart. Public mapping and real estate records show the Paragon Mills Road arrest site sits about 1.5 miles east of that Walmart, with both locations falling within Davidson County's 37211 ZIP code, meaning the stolen truck never made it far before police caught up.
Krispy Kreme delivery trucks are a routine sight in South Nashville commercial lots because the company's primary Nashville manufacturing and retail store sits at 408 Thompson Lane, supplying fresh doughnuts daily to area supermarkets and retailers. That Thompson Lane shop has been open since 1971, according to the Nashville Public Library.
Court Records Show Prior Case
Davidson County Criminal Court Clerk records show Abdul-Malik was previously charged in 2016 with felony aggravated assault by strangulation, a case that was resolved in June 2018 through a misdemeanor conviction for domestic bodily injury resulting in a suspended sentence of 11 months and 29 days with supervised probation, according to records maintained by Criminal Court Clerk Howard Gentry's office. Court records list his birth date as January 3, 1991.
The police officers' observations about narcotics impairment and delusional statements point toward the possibility of a competency evaluation as the case proceeds through Davidson County General Sessions Court, though no such evaluation has been confirmed.
Part of a Broader Vehicle Theft Trend
The incident lands amid a broader decline in Nashville auto thefts. Metropolitan Nashville Police Department data reported by WSMV showed vehicle thefts across the city dropped nearly 40% during the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period the year before, with police attributing the drop to expanded staffing and new precinct resources. Even so, opportunistically stolen delivery trucks remain an unpredictable public safety wrinkle, as Hoodline detailed in its report on a Nashville chop shop bust earlier this year.
Stolen-vehicle pursuits have made headlines in the region before. In June, Metro Nashville Police and surrounding county agencies engaged in a multi-jurisdictional chase of a stolen truck that ended in Cannon County after the driver rammed patrol vehicles and ran over spike strips, a case Hoodline covered in its report on the Woodbury pursuit. That driver faced charges including vehicle theft over $10,000 and evading arrest.
The scenario also has a national echo. In February 2025, Indianapolis Metro Police arrested a suspect after a stolen Krispy Kreme delivery truck led officers on a chase that scattered racks of doughnuts across the street, according to Police1. That driver was booked on felony auto theft charges.
