A West Windsor Township police officer suffered minor injuries in a tussle with a suspected shoplifter as the officer attempted to arrest him outside the Target store on Nassau Park Boulevard March 14, according to the West Windsor Police Department.
The Brooklyn, N.Y. man was charged with shoplifting, aggravated assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, and eluding, police said.
He was one of two suspected shoplifters who had filled a shopping cart full of packages of Tide PODS laundry detergent valued at $295.23. They paid $6.40 for the merchandise by scanning a $1 bar code six times at the self-checkout register, police said.
One man pushed the cart out of the store while his companion followed, police said. The police officer, who was already at the Nassau Park shopping center, detained the two men.
As the officer was attempting to arrest them, one of the men fled. The officer chased him and forced him to the ground to make the arrest, police said. The other man ran off and got into a car that was waiting nearby.
The man who was apprehended by the police officer was processed and taken to the Mercer County Correction Center.
