Sept 29, 1994: Giant Eagle, Ravenna, OH - "Police Arrive in the Nick of Time"

...At approximately 10:50 pm, I watched the three individuals enter the store. They went to the rear of the store near the Meat Department. While the dark-haired male and female walked up the rear aisle further, the blonde-haired male picked up a package of steaks, walked into one of the other aisles and placed the package under his jacket. He then met up with the other two individuals, they shopped for another 5 – 10 minutes, and then they went to the checkouts. I didn’t see the steaks get paid for. They then left the store. I followed them outside and stopped the blonde-haired male on the front sidewalk. I identified myself and told him I wanted to talk to him. He said, “Get away from me”. I told him I just wanted my merchandise back. He said okay, and pulled a container of French Onion Dip out of his right jacket pocket. I then said, I want everything back, the steaks, too. He then pulled them out from under his jacket and handed them to me. At this time a male employee was approaching and I was waving to him to keep on coming. The suspect apparently saw me wave and took off running through the parking lot. I dropped the container of onion dip and gave chase. I caught up to the suspect as we crossed the highway. I was able to bring him down from behind by grabbing the hood of the sweatshirt he was wearing. The store employee caught up to us by now and assisted me in holding down the suspect. While on the ground, the subject pulled money out of his pocket and stated he would pay for the steaks. He also said he could not be arrested. I asked him if he was on probation and if he’d ever been arrested before, and he replied, for assault. We continued to attempt to put one of his arms behind his back, but he was too strong and kept on struggling.
His two friends soon arrived on the scene and the dark-haired male instructed me to let him go. He then said I had 30 seconds to let him go while showing a clenched fist. I warned him that if he hit me, he would be charged with assault. At this time I could hear the police sirens approaching and the dark-haired male backed off as two patrol cars, with lights flashing pulled into the parking lot. We released the subject as I explained to the officers that he was being stopped for retail theft, and that the other male subject had threatened me. Both subjects were then arrested and taken into custody.