Shoplifter attacks security with knife www.privateofficer.com

CARLSBAD CA. Dec. 28, 2007— A Carlsbad man was arrested Sunday at Wal-Mart after allegedly stuffing several items from the store into his clothing and then pulling a knife when he was confronted by store security, a police report stated.
Robert M. Rodriguez, 44, of the 300 block of Peachtree Street, was also charged for having a syringe in his shirt pocket, which he allegedly said was for drug use purposes.
When Carlsbad police arrived at Wal-Mart, they were told that store security had been watching Rodriguez in the electronics department of the store. When he moved to the furniture department, they saw him stick several DVDs inside the front of his jacket.
When Rodriguez was confronted by store personnel about the alleged theft, he said he did not have any movies. One of the store officers tapped on the movies in his jacket and Rodriguez turned and began to run out of the store.
Before Rodriguez could get out of the store, security caught up with him and he turned toward them, pulling a knife out of his pocket. Before he could open the knife, store security was able to take Rodriguez into custody, the report stated.
As store security staff was struggling with Rodriguez, they reportedly found several other store items in his jacket.
When Carlsbad police were hand cuffing Rodriguez, they saw a syringe in his shirt pocket. Rodriguez admitted he was stealing items from the store to get money for more drugs, the report said.
In January of 1998, Rodriguez had been issued criminal trespass warnings in an attempt to prevent him from entering the Wal-Mart store in the future.
Rodriguez was being held Wednesday at the Eddy County Detention Center.