Shoplifter Who Said He Was Armed Arrested After Fleeing

A man was nabbed after cops alleged he stole from a business and then fled police. Around 12:50 PM Tuesday, Falls Township police were alerted by loss prevention staff at the Home Depot on Commerce Boulevard that a person was leaving the store with a cart full of merchandise without paying, according to court papers.

A loss prevention staffer told Corporal Victoria Crosier that the suspect touched his right hip with his hand when the employee advised the man to stop. He then allegedly said: “Leave me alone. I have a gun.”

The officer found suspect – identified as Rafael Romeo Rivera, 43, of Bayonne, New Jersey – as he loaded his car. He then sped away in his Saturn through the busy shopping center, causing pedestrians to “take evasive action,” police said.

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Rivera drove through the busy connecting shopping center and ended up getting caught in an area of the parking lot with only one exit and a surrounding high curb, police said.

“[Rivera] made several excited utterances where he admitted the retail theft at the store, police said.

In court documents, police said Rivera stole a table saw, nail gun, two tubs of Tide pods, and a bottle of fabric softener. Rivera does not have a license and two previous convictions for retail theft, police said.

Rivera was charged with robbery, retail theft, receiving stolen property, reckless endangerment, fleeing or attempting to elude police, driving without a license, reckless driving, and careless driving. He was arraigned by District Judge Jan Vislosky and jailed on 10 percent of $100,000 bail…   Levittown Now

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