OSHTEMO (WKZO-AM/FM) — A violent run-in with an alleged shoplifter in Oshtemo sent a store detective and a Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s deputy to the hospital and the suspected thief to jail.
Deputies responded to the business along the West Main Street shopping strip near Drake Road around 11 p.m. Saturday and found store detectives trying to apprehend the suspect for retail theft in the parking lot.
As the deputy approached, the suspect started swinging a metal flashlight, hitting both a store employee and the deputy repeatedly in the head.
The suspect was subdued as other deputies and store personnel joined the fray. He was booked into the Kalamazoo County Jail for multiple assault counts and retail fraud.
The deputy and the store detective were treated and released.
