Unruly man steals phone items from gas station

Employees at the Mobil gas station at Woodward and Oak Street in Birmingham called police after a disorderly customer who had been yelling at other customers locked himself in the bathroom, then stole several items and took off before officers caught him on Monday, December 7.

Birmingham police were called to the Mobil station, 36200 Woodward Avenue, at around 4:25 p.m. on reports of a disorderly customer who was yelling at other customers. He then refused to leave a bathroom at the store. When officers arrived, a Mobil employee met them in the parking lot to inform them the man had stolen several items and then ran south on Woodward.

Officers observed the suspect run across the southbound lanes of N. Old Woodward by the 800 block, and made contact with him, a 42-year-old black male from Pontiac. While he immediately complied with an officer's request to talk, at the same time he chugged a 50 ml bottle of whiskey and told police there was another suspect running through the nearby woods.

Police searched the area where they had seen the suspect, discovering mobile phone accessories reported stolen from the gas station but no other suspect.

Officers returned the stolen accessories to the Mobil station. The suspect was photographed and issued a citation for retail fraud.