A suspected shoe thief was arrested at an ALDI grocery store after leading deputies on a chase.
Ryan Michael Kutash-Frost, 31, of Summerfield, on Wednesday entered the Bealls store on U.S. Hwy. 441 in Lady Lake, where he removed his shoes and put on a pair of new New Balance shoes, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. He put his old shoes in the shoebox and left the store.
Store personnel contacted law enforcement, who arrived on the scene at 1:21 p.m. and attempted to take Kutash-Frost into custody. However, he fled on foot, running into a hair salon before heading to ALDI. Several deputies were in pursuit and a loss prevention officer at ALDI saw what was happening and took Kutash-Frost to the ground.
In addition to charges of theft and resisting arrest, Kutash-Frost was also wanted on a Marion County warrant charging him with drug crimes. He was booked on $4,000 bond at the Sumter County Detention Center.
Kutash-Frost was arrested with drugs in 2016 in the parking lot of the Microtel hotel in Lady Lake, jailed in 2015 in the theft of a jacket at Wal-Mart and arrested in 2014 in the theft of merchandise from a local CVS Pharmacy.