Man Assaulted Milltown Home Depot Employee, Tries to Rob Store: Police

Milltown, NJ - Police arrested a man in connection with an incident in which someone assaulted a store employee at the Milltown Home Depot Wednesday after trying to steal $4,000 worth of merchandise from the store. This is the second time this week that store has made headlines: A massive drug stash was found in the Home Depot parking lot Monday night.

Security staff at the Milltown Home Depot say a man tried to walk out of the store with a shopping cart full of $4,000 worth of items at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. After being confronted by security, the man physically assaulted a store employee, ran through the parking lot and fled the area in a white Cadillac sedan.

There were others involved who may have been left behind in the store by the fleeing suspect, police said.

An all-points bulletin was issued, and an just an hour later, at about 5:25 p.m. Wednesday, police located a man near the Milltown Target who had been with the robbery suspect during the shoplifting, they said.

The man was later arrested and charged with shoplifting and conspiracy to commit shoplifting. He was identified as Brian Frias, 24, of New York, New York. He was turned over to the Middlesex County Adult Correctional Center with a bail amount of $25,000, no 10% option.

The man who assaulted the Home Depot employee, however, remains at large.

This investigation is ongoing with more arrests and more charges expected, police said.