What had originally been called in as an armed robbery near the community of Lawton this morning turned out to be a case of retail fraud instead, but a Paw Paw man will still have to answer for his actions.
Van Buren County Sheriff Daniel Abbot says his men were dispatched on a call of armed robbery at the Country Lakes General Store at 83269 M-40 in Porter Township around 8:40 this morning. When they arrived on the scene a few minutes later they found that a 26-year old Paw Paw man was being held down by a store clerk after trying to escape with more than $100 in stolen lottery tickets from the store.
Abbott says the unidentified man apparently walked in to the store, asked the clerk for $122 worth of lottery tickets after which he handed over an old lottery ticket and ran from the store. Once the clerk determined that the ticket turned in was not a winning ticket, he went out to confront the customer at which point that man ran south down Highway M-40. The clerk climbed into his plow truck and gave chase, striking the thief with the plow and knocking him into a ditch. Undeterred, the thief got up and tried to run away again before being tackled by the clerk who then held him down until police arrived.
As deputies conducted their interviews, they determined that it was not a case of armed robbery, but retail fraud instead. The thief ended up being taken away by ambulance for possible broken bones and internal injuries. Abbot says when the investigation is complete, the report will be sent to the Van Buren County Prosecutor for charges.
Meanwhile, authorities are asking that anyone who might have witnessed the incident or has other information on the case contact the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office at 269-657-3101.
The case is being investigated by Deputy Scott Schmitt who was assisted in the case by Sgt. Casey Davis, and Deputies Paul Graham and Mark Hamre. They were also assisted by the Lawton Police Department, Lawton Quick Response and Life EMS.
