A Ruston man was arrested early May 26 after officers responded to a reported shoplifting incident at Neighborhood Walmart and pursued a suspect on bicycle through several Ruston streets, according to a Ruston Police Department report.
Keyshawn West, 20, of Ruston, was arrested at approximately 3:20 a.m. following the incident on West California Avenue.
According to the report, officers responded to the store regarding a possible shoplifter. Upon arrival, an officer observed a man wearing all-black clothing outside the gas pump employee building matching the description provided by dispatch.
The report states the officer exited his vehicle and attempted to speak with the man, who walked away on foot and then got on a bicycle and fled the store. The officer reported the suspect was fleeing by bicycle, and officers responded to assist in his apprehension.
According to the report, the pursuit traveled from Neighborhood Walmart down South Monroe Street, east on West Line Avenue, south on South Vienna Street, and onto South Trenton Street, where the suspect wrecked his bicycle.
Officers then apprehended West and took him back to Neighborhood Walmart, where an officer located two backpacks outside the gas pump employee building. According to the report, West confirmed the backpacks were his.
The bags were searched and police found cold chocolate products still inside wrappers in one backpack and opened sports drinks in the other. Officers also observed empty spaces in refrigerators near the front of the employee building where sports drinks and chocolate products had reportedly been.
West was taken to the Lincoln Parish Detention Center and booked for resisting an officer and misdemeanor theft.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
