Two shoplifters were arrested Monday afternoon after they attacked an employee and led police officers on a chase through Butler Plaza.
Gainesville Police arrested 19-year-old Brandon Lee Williams, of Gainesville, and a 17-year-old boy from Archer who was not identified because of his age, said GPD spokesman Officer Ben Tobias. They face charges of robbery and theft.
At about 2 p.m., officers arrived at Kohl’s, located at 3535 SW Archer Road, after the pair allegedly stole more than $700 worth of clothing from the store, according to an arrest report.
As they were running away, the teenagers hit a Kohl’s loss-prevention employee multiple times, inflicting a large cut on his head, according to the report.
The shoplifters continued running across Southwest Archer Road and into Butler Plaza, Tobias said. Officers used police dogs to track their scents into woods near Windmeadows Apartments.
A resident then pointed out the teens to a Gainesville Police/Alachua County Sheriff’s Office Joint Aviation Unit helicopter, Tobias said. Williams and the minor came out of the woods and were arrested at about 2:20 p.m.
Officers booked Williams into the Alachua County Jail at about 5 p.m., where he remained as of press time with no bond.
A version of this story ran on page 5 on 11/26/2013 under the headline "Shoplifters injure Kohl’s employee, race across Archer Road"
