Shoplifting Arrest At Bel Air Target Injures 2: Police

BEL AIR, MD — A man accused of shoplifting and one of the police officers who tried to stop him were injured over the weekend at the Target in Bel Air. Both were treated and released from the hospital, according to the Bel Air Police Department.

Jonathan Andrew Myers, 19, of the 100 block of Eden Stone Court in Abingdon, was medically evaluated and then taken to the Harford County Detention Center, police said. He was charged with two counts of assaulting a police officer; resisting arrest; theft from $100 to $1,500; and possession of paraphernalia.

The Bel Air policeman was treated for minor injuries at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center, where officials said he was released early Sunday morning.

The chaotic arrest in which they were injured occurred around 9 p.m. Saturday at the Target in the 500 block of Market Place Drive.

Loss prevention officials had been using surveillance cameras to monitor a man suspected of hiding merchandise in two backpacks. Upon being notified of a possible theft in progress Saturday night, the Bel Air Police Department sent officers to the store.

Authorities said Myers tried to walk out with a mountain bike when he was confronted by loss prevention employees before leaving the store, and as he tried to get away, Bel Air police officers tried to apprehend him.

Myers fought with officers and assaulted one, at which point another officer Tased the teen who stopped fighting briefly before he continued lashing out until backup officers arrived and cuffed him, according to a statement from the Bel Air Police Department.

Myers was taken by Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company ambulance to Upper Chesapeake Medical Center, where he was treated for an eye laceration and assessed since he fell during the arrest, officials reported.

As of Monday, Myers was being held at the Harford County Detention Center with bail set at $3,000.

Corporal McComas, who sustained minor injuries and was also taken to Upper Chesapeake, was treated and released early Sunday morning, police said. He is a 17-year veteran of the Bel Air Police Department.

Image via Google street view.