Thief takes $780 in energy drinks, says he has coronavirus to avoid arrest, CA cops say

A man accused of stealing energy drinks from Walmart said he had coronavirus to try to avoid arrest, San Leandro police said.

Serrell Gordon, 40, of Oakland, California, was seen taking $780 worth of energy drinks from Walmart on March 17, police said in a press release on Thursday. Gordon was wearing a medical mask and “falsely claimed to be sick with COVID-19 in an effort to avoid being arrested for shoplifting,” police said.

Police said Walmart’s loss prevention staff “backed away from Gordon” because they were afraid of getting the virus and allowed him to leave the store. Police arrived and stopped the car and arrested him.

“In California, a robbery can occur when a shoplifter tries to take merchandise from a store and is confronted by store security and the shoplifter attempts to use force or, in this case use fear, to avoid arrest and permanently deprive the store of their merchandise,” San Leandro Police Lt. Ted Henderson said in the release.

Gordon was charged with robbery and resisting arrest, police said. He’s being held on $60,000 bail at Santa Rita Jail.

This story was originally published March 27, 2020 at 3:48 PM with the headline "Thief takes $780 in energy drinks, says he has coronavirus to avoid arrest, CA cops say."