Shoplifting suspect is on the run after evading police, carjacking vehicle

Police say a man suspected of shoplifting at a Walmart in Elk Grove with two other people is on the run Saturday after eluding officers and carjacking a vehicle.

Officers responded to the Walmart on Elk Grove Boulevard around 1:30 p.m. after receiving reports of shoplifting, said Jason Jimenez, Elk Grove Police Department spokesman. The officers spotted the three suspects leaving the location in their vehicle and pulled them over.

While the officers were detaining two of the suspects, Jimenez said the third individual, who had been sitting in the back seat of the car, got into the front and drove off.

The officers initially pursued the suspect but stopped out of concern for the public’s safety, due to the suspect’s erratic driving, Jimenez said.

Members of the public eventually flagged an officer down and told them the suspect’s vehicle was on Chablis Way, Jimenez said.

The suspect was standing outside of the vehicle when an officer spotted him, Jimenez said. When the suspect saw the officer, he took off running through the backyard of a home before hopping a fence into a commercial/industrialized area.

The officer did not pursue the suspect, Jimenez said. Stolen merchandise from Walmart was found inside the suspect’s car.

Soon after, police received a phone call of an armed carjacking on Dino Drive near where the suspect evaded police, Jimenez said. The description of the perpetrator also matched that of the shoplifting suspect.

Both the suspect and the stolen car have yet to be located.

This story was originally published December 15, 2018 at 3:59 PM.