Man With Knives in Pants Stabs Himself
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 8, 2008
Filed at 4:42 p.m. ET
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) -- A man who hid hunting knives in his pants to try to steal them from a western Michigan store tripped while fleeing and stabbed himself in the abdomen, police say.
The suspect was hospitalized after Monday night's attempted theft from a Meijer Inc. superstore in Grand Rapids and is expected to face a misdemeanor shoplifting charge, police say.
The wounds did not appear to be life-threatening, The Grand Rapids Press reported.
The man had put about $300 worth of hunting knives in his waistband, police told WZZM-TV. Police say he tried to leave the store, but Meijer employees confronted him and a scuffle followed.
The man then fell and was stabbed by the knives he had hidden in his clothing, police said. They said it happened about 5:40 p.m.
''The man was taken to the hospital,'' said Meijer spokesman Frank Giuliano. ''We are cooperating with the investigation by police.''
Police said the suspect has a record of retail fraud.
''I saw a man laying down on the mat by the carts, a knife by him with blood on the full blade of the knife,'' shopper Heather Dodd told WOOD-TV. ''It was not a dull kitchen knife or a sharp butcher's knife, it was somewhere in between.
''Someone was holding him down so I just walked around him, grabbed my cart, made sure everything was OK and got out of the way.''
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