A pair was arrested in an early morning heist at Wal-Mart at Buffalo Ridge Plaza in The Villages.
Sumter County sheriff’s deputies were called at about 4 a.m. Friday to investigate a report of a man who exited the store through the garden section carrying a backpack filled with stolen merchandise, according to an arrest report.
Deputies apprehended 21-year-old Nicholas Gene Darnell, of Oxford. Stolen merchandise in the backpack included nine bandannas, a Masterlock, six pairs of large boxer briefs, a hoodie and a sweater. The backpack also was stolen.
A second man, 42-year-old Shawn Patrick Maloney, of the Village of Belvedere, also was arrested when he was found to be in possession of stolen merchandise. Maloney was tasered earlier this year at the Old Mill Playhouse and arrested last year when he was spotted driving a golf cart down County Road 466. He is currently on probation.
During the trip to the jail, Darnell slipped his handcuffs under his leg. The deputy had to stop the patrol car and re-secure the handcuffs.
Both men were taken into custody and booked at the Sumter County Detention Center. Maloney was jailed without bond due to the probation violation. Darnell’s bond was set at $2,500.
