Police uses pepper spray to arrest the 19 -year -old theft authorities

San Mateo-a suspect in the 19-year-old Walgreens theft who fled the authorities, injured an officer, then hidden under a passage over an hour and refused to move, was arrested on Friday after the officers used a pepper spray launcher.

The resident of San Mateo has been reserved in the county prison and is accused of withstanding police officers and shopping, according to a press release from the San Mateo Police Department.

The incident started around 1:19 pm on block 100 in South Ellsworth Avenue, when a Walgreens employee called officers about a suspect who had just stolen alcohol from the store.

The officers were already in the area and quickly found the suspect, who was riding a bicycle. While the officers told the suspect to stop, he continued to ride his bike to the east to the 101 motorway. An officer then tried to stop the 19-year-old, but failed to stop and hurt the officer, according to the statement.

The suspect then descended from the bicycle and ran under the 3rd passage that crosses the 101 motorway and in a stream, where the officers lost sight of.

A drone was then used in search of the stream, and the officers found the suspect hidden on a terrace under the passage.

The department said that the officers gave more orders to the suspect, but failed to comply. After negotiating with the suspect for more than an hour, the officers used a non-lethal launcher to implement pepper spray next to it. He came out of his hiding place after and was arrested.

Originally published: March 9, 2025 to 7:15 AM PST