An Oxford man was nabbed at a local gas station with a stolen backpack containing shoplifted merchandise.
Shane Michael Knotts, 45, had been a passenger in a Chevrolet Trailblazer which was pulled over at 3:20 p.m. Saturday at the Murphy Express on County Road 466, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. Prior to the traffic stop, a deputy had observed Knotts getting out of the vehicle, running to a wooded area where he retrieved a backpack and then got back into the Trailblazer.
The backpack appeared to be new and contained a Hyper Touch rechargeable LED flashlight and a Pocket Juice portable charger and hand warmer. Deputies checked with the nearby Wal-Mart at Buffalo Ridge Plaza in The Villages and surveillance showed Knotts entering the store. The merchandise had a before tax value of $69.79.
Knotts was arrested on a charge of larceny and booked at the Sumter County Detention Center. He was released after posting $500 bond.
Knotts had been arrested last year after allegedly stealing a bicycle from a home in The Villages.
