Shoplifting suspect pulls gun on Home Depot employee

A 31-year-old man was arrested Sunday night on suspicion of first-degree robbery after he allegedly stole items from The Home Depot in Tumwater. After he was detained by a store employee for shoplifting, the man allegedly pulled out a gun, court records show.

However, the gun later turned out to be a pellet gun.

Court records give the following account:

Tumwater police were dispatched to the store about 7:20 p.m. Sunday after a report that a man had pulled a gun on a loss-prevention employee after that employee had tried to detain him for suspected shoplifting.

“When (the loss prevention employee) confronted the suspect about the stolen items, the suspect produced a handgun and told him to ‘back the f— up,’” the court records read.

The suspect fled the scene, but was later stopped by police and taken into custody. The stolen items and the pellet gun were later found behind a nearby Walmart.

The suspect, according to court records, admitted to stealing but denied pulling out the gun.

This story was originally published October 22, 2018 at 5:07 PM.