BRENTWOOD, Mo. — A 59-year-old man accused of shoplifting at a Brentwood Target was arrested Saturday.
According to authorities, 59-year-old Jerome Eichelberger and an unidentified woman were inside the Target on Brentwood Promenade Court when they allegedly placed several items, worth up to $750, inside shopping bags.
As they tried to walk out the door without paying, an officer with the Brentwood Police Department tried to stop them. Eichelberger tried to escape but a struggle ensued with the responding officer, police said.
The suspect then reportedly grabbed the officer's gun.
"The officer struck the defendant in the face one time, causing the defendant to release his grip on the gun," a spokesperson from the St. Louis County Circuit Attorney's Office wrote in a press release.
Eichelberger was taken into custody but the unidentified woman ran off during the scuffle.
Prosecutors charged Eichelberger with stealing and resisting arrest.
No other information has been released.
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