LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Police say a suspected Walmart shoplifter was foiled by an alert cab driver armed with pepper spray.
It happened Sunday night just before 10 p.m. Police say 43-year-old Tony Wilds walked out of the Walmart store on Bashford Manor Lane, at Bardstown Road, with more than $1,100 worth of merchandise he didn't pay for, including a computer.
A loss prevention officer tried to stop Wilds, but he fought him off and threatened to kill him, according to an arrest report.
When he made it outside, he tried to get into a nearby cab. Police say the cab driver had picked Wilds up from Fourth Street Live and driven him to the Walmart earlier, but when he saw the loss prevention officer fighting with Wilds, he became suspicious and refused to let Wilds get in the cab.
Police say Wilds threatened to kill him.
"You kill me?" the cab driver shouted, according to police, "I don't think so!"
Then, police say, he pulled out a can of pepper spray and began spraying Wilds.
Then the cab driver and the loss prevention officer both began chasing Wilds. They chased him into a nearby parking lot, where he was apprehended.
Police say he owed the cab driver $42.50.
He was charged with robbery, terroristic threatening and theft of services.
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Tony Wilds (Source: Louisville Metro Corrections)
