A shoplifting run for turkey meat and pain reliever at a West El Paso Albertsons turned into a felony robbery case after the suspect allegedly threw a trash can at a store employee while trying to get away. The incident happened on September 10 at the Albertsons located at 7022 N. Mesa St., and the suspect remains unidentified more than three weeks later.
According to KTSM 9 News, a store loss prevention employee noticed the suspect inside the Albertsons and confronted him outside after he left with a package of Hillshire Farm oven roasted turkey and a bottle of Tylenol gelcaps. As the suspect tried to run, he fell, and then allegedly hit the employee with a trash can before fleeing the scene, per Crime Stoppers. Crime Stoppers of El Paso has publicized the case as its Crime of the Week, asking the community for help identifying the man now wanted in connection with the incident.
How a Shoplifting Attempt Becomes a Felony
The items taken — a package of lunch meat and a bottle of pain reliever — are not assigned a value here. Under Texas Penal Code Section 31.03, theft of property valued under $100 is a Class C misdemeanor, carrying a fine of up to $500 and no jail time, according to Deandra Grant Law.
But the alleged use of force against the loss prevention employee changes everything. Texas Penal Code Section 29.02 states that committing theft while intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causing bodily injury or threatening bodily harm elevates simple theft to robbery, a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison and fines up to $10,000, per the Benjamin Law Firm. Texas law also includes acts committed during immediate flight after a theft within the scope of robbery, meaning the alleged trash-can throw outside the store — rather than the shoplifting itself — is what pushed the charge into felony territory…