A man, identified as Chad Michael Coleman, was arrested for stealing nearly 180 packs of cigarettes from a Dollar General on Broadway Avenue.
On May 15 just before 8 a.m., police were dispatched to a Dollar General at 3810 Broadway Ave. for a breaking and entering report.
When police arrived, they spoke with a woman who explained she was the manager of the store and someone broke inside and stole an unknown amount if cigarettes.
She said she received a phone call from the alarm company the night before around 10 p.m. and again the morning of May 15 around 2:40 a.m., but she missed both. When she arrived at the store the morning of May 15 around 7:30 a.m., she found the area where cigarettes were displayed was in disarray. She watched the store surveillance videos and saw a man inside the store at about 2:37 a.m. Next, she called police.
According to the police report, police arrived at the store and did a check first since it was unsure if the suspect was still inside. Police found no one inside and then watched the surveillance footage.
Police said in the videos, the man can be seen walking to an employee only area of the store jut after 8 p.m. while the store was still open for business. He hid something inside of a black duffel bag and left the store through an overhead door on the northeast side of the building. Police assumed he left the door unlocked before he was seen walking towards Broadway Avenue.
Just before 10 p.m., police said, a man was seen walking around the exterior of the store and then over to the door he exited out of earlier. He entered, was seen running through the store, going over to the cigarette display, and took several packs of cigarettes. Just after 10 p.m., he left through the same door he used to enter the store.
Authorities reported, around 2:40 a.m., the man was seen entering the store through the same door and running through to get back to the cigarette display, where he took even more packs. He then left through the same door.
Police said in all three incidents the man appeared to be the same person. He was described as a white man with facial hair who was either bald or had short hair. He appeared to be wearing blue pants and possibly black shoes with white soles. The man appeared to change his outer layer of clothing on his upper half for each incident.
The store manager told police the suspect did not look familiar.
Police announced on Friday Chad Michael Coleman was arrested in connection to the incidents.
