On Dec. 22, Union Township plain clothes police officers Chad Lutson and Chad Bullock responded to Walmart after receiving a call from an officer with Walmart loss prevention. He reported that a man wearing camouflage overalls and a black jacket left the store on foot after shoplifting items from the store.

Union Township officers were shown where the suspect was last seen running. Officer Lutson dropped officer Bullock off near the point of entrance where the subject entered the woods in an attempt to flush him towards the Civic Center while Lutson drove to the Civic Center to wait. On the way to the Civic Center, Lutson observed a man knocking on the door of a residence on Aicholtz Road.