A Reading man with multiple shoplifting convictions was arrested after Muhlenberg Township police said he struggled with a policeman following a foot chase into a wooded area of Hyde Park.
Gabriel Diaz-Soto, 38, of the 300 block of Moss Street was committed to Berks County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail following arraignment Monday night before District Judge Ann L. Young in Reading Central Court.
He was charged with a felony grade of retail theft along with resisting arrest and evading arrest on foot.
According to court records:
Muhlenberg police Officer Charles Parrott was dispatched to the Lowe’s store at 500 Madison Ave. about 3:45 p.m. Monday for a report of a retail theft in progress. Store security reported the suspect was running toward North Fifth Street.
While units were searching the area, Parrott went to the store, obtained a photo of the suspect and distributed the image to the other officers.
Surveillance footage shows the suspect entering the store on foot from the same direction in which he fled. He grabbed a shopping cart and headed to the tool section, selecting a multitool set that sold for $679.
He pushed the cart toward the exit, bypassing all points of sale. A loss prevention officer followed him into the parking lot and shouted that police had been called.
The suspect let go of the cart and fled.
Officer Jordan Jeznach called out via radio that he saw the suspect walking south on nearby Kutztown Road at Delta Avenue. The suspect turned around, saw the police car and bolted into a wooded area between Kutztown Road and Northmont Boulevard.
Jeznach chased the suspect, later identified as Diaz-Soto, into the woods and tackled him.
Diaz-Soto wouldn’t submit to being handcuffed. After a lengthy struggle during which police deployed a Taser, Diaz-Soto was taken into custody.
He was taken by ambulance to Reading Hospital for evaluation, which is standard procedure after a Taser is used on a suspect.
During the struggle, Jeznach suffered cuts and scrapes to his face, neck and an ear.