On Oct. 20, at 7:31 p.m., Charles County Sheriff’s officers responded to Sears at the St. Charles Towne Center for the report of a theft suspect attempting to flee the store.
Officers arrived and observed the suspect running through a wooded area toward Smallwood Drive West. As the officers chased the suspect, the suspect approached an eastbound van that had stopped in the roadway.
Police ordered the suspect to stop but he refused and as he attempted to open the door of the van, an officer deployed his Taser.
The suspect was arrested without further incident and was identified as Robert Emmanuel Clifford, 24 of Lexington Park.
Clifford was charged with theft valued at less than $500 and fleeing police. He was being held at the Charles County Detention Center pending an appearance before a district court commissioner.