Amador County – An Elk Grove man was arrested last week after allegedly walking out of Wal-Mart with a television, abandoning it after being chased, and then allegedly stealing a shirt from K-Mart, which he wore in an apparent attempt effort to make a get-away.

Amador County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday that deputies had made an arrest last Friday of Christian Francis Gerlach, 39, of Elk Grove, who was charged with burglary, with bail set at $40,000.

On Friday, May 5 at about 4:30 p.m. Sheriff’s Deputies “responded to the report of a male subject that had just stolen a television from Wal-Mart. It was reported that a Wal-Mart Loss Prevention Officer had chased the suspect through the parking lot until the suspect elected to abandon the stolen television. The suspect was last seen running towards K-Mart.”

The Sheriff’s office in a release said that “upon conducting an area check, a K-Mart employee told deputies that she had observed a subject enter K-Mart that matched the description of the Wal-Mart suspect.” The employee stated that the suspect stole a red shirt which he put on, before fleeing toward Highway 88.”

“Amador County Sheriff’s Deputies continued to check the area and ultimately observed the suspect attempt to conceal himself in the high grass on the north side of Highway 88 near Wicklow Way. Two deputies approached the suspect, who refused to comply with their orders. The suspect was subsequently detained in a high risk manner.”

ACSO said the “Wal-Mart Loss Prevention Officer positively identified the suspect during an in-field show up. The suspect’s identity was also confirmed via surveillance video which captured him in the act of committing the crime.”

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