A 30-year-old man was arrested early Saturday morning on a charge of shoplifting after he allegedly tried to steal a shopping cart full of beer from Kroger on U.S. Highway 278.
According to reports from the Covington Police Department, officers were called to the store at 3:26 a.m. Officers were told that a man was in the beer aisle of the store attempting to shoplift.
Officers reported that when they arrived, they saw the man, Justin Franklin Hanson, leaving the store, pushing a shopping cart filled with beer.
The officers pulled their patrol car alongside Hanson who allegedly ignored them and continued walking. Police got out of their car and approached him, asking Hanson to show them a receipt for the beer.
Hanson reportedly told them that he did not have a receipt because he had paid for the beer earlier but had left it behind at the store and was just now returning to get it. A cashier told police that Hanson loaded the shopping cart with beer and exited the store without making any effort to pay for the beverages.
The shopping cart contained beer valued at $101.85: A 30-pack of Icehouse, two 18-packs of Corona and two 12-packs of Hollande. Hanson was arrested and transported to the Newton County Detention Center. The beer was returned to Kroger.