Alleged shoplifting nets robbery charge

BANGOR – A former Palmyra man made his initial appearance Wednesday in 3rd District Court facing a charge that alleges he stole items from a local grocery store, pushed a security officer and threatened him with a weapon.

Eric White, 21, now a transient, said he understood the robbery charge, which District Court Judge Ann Murray reminded him is a Class A felony punishable by up to 40 years in prison. White is being held at Penobscot County Jail on $5,000 surety or $500 cash bail.

Sometime after 6 p.m. Tuesday, a loss prevention officer at Shaw’s on Main Street alerted police that a man had taken several items, concealed them in his jacket and left through an emergency exit near the store’s restrooms.

The Shaw’s officer followed the man, later identified as White, and asked him to return to the store to pay for the items. White pushed the man away and put his hand into a jacket pocket, Bangor Officer James Dearing wrote in his police report.

The Shaw’s employee told police that White lifted the hand in his pocket as if to point a weapon of some sort at him. Fearful that it might be a gun, the unarmed officer let White go, but called Bangor police and followed the man on foot.

A trio of Bangor police officers found White behind a house on Sidney Street, near the ERA Dawson offices, where he was in possession of some of the stolen items. Dearing wrote that White was being aggressive with officers and refused to cooperate so he was arrested.

White was taken to Penobscot County Jail while Dearing returned to the grocery store to look at a surveillance videotape. The tape shows White select several items, including four packages of beef jerky and a bottle of wine, and hide the items in his jacket, Dearing’s report stated.

The camera briefly showed White leaving the store but did not show White assaulting or threatening the Shaw’s security officer, Dearing wrote.

Penobscot County Assistant District Attorney Dan Wood told the court that White has a prior criminal history that includes a felony burglary conviction while he was still a juvenile and a 2002 theft conviction for which White spent 60 days in jail.

White’s attorney, David Bate of Bangor, told Judge Murray that the case is little more than “shoplifting coupled with a shove.”

A probable cause hearing is scheduled for May 12.