Police seek ID of alleged thief

Plains police are looking to identify a man who shoplifted beer from the Town Pump early Thursday morning.

Chief of Police Shawn Emmett said the man, believed to be in his mid 20s, tried to purchase two cans of beer shortly before 2:30 a.m. Thursday. However, because alcohol cannot be bought between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m., Jesse Curry, the clerk, refused to sell it to him.

The man made a purchase of another item and as he was departing the store, he waved at another person in the store. According to the clerk, when he did, two cans of beer were seen in his back pockets by another man in the store. Curry, 19, said that by the time he could react, the man was gone. However, he said the person took off on foot.

The suspect was about six feet tall, brown hair, and weighed between 180-190 pounds. He was picked up on the store's security video camera going into the store and at the cash register.

Emmett said that the man was reportedly kicked out of a local bar earlier. He also heard the man was new to the area. The chief said that a person convicted of theft, a misdemeanor because the value of the item was under $1,000, could spend up to six months in jail and have to pay a $1,000 fine. For a second theft offense, it's a mandatory six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

This is the second time in the last three months that the Plains Police Department was investigating a theft at the Town Pump. Two Lake County teenage girls were seen stealing bottles of wine coolers one night in early October. Photographs from the Town Pump security camera were sent to Two Eagle River High School in Pablo, where they were positively identified. The case was turned over to the juvenile law enforcement authorities.

Anyone with information on the identity of the man who took the beer Thursday can call the Plains Police Department at 826-5990.