An East Village store clerk jumped into action after spotting an alleged shoplifter making a run for it yesterday, chasing and tackling the suspect as the man crashed over displays of merchandise.
“You could feel the floor shaking’’ said a witness at the Rite Aid on Fifth Street and First Avenue in Manhattan. “Stuff was everywhere.”
The messy takedown occurred around 3 p.m., after Sean Wiater, 29 (pictured), allegedly slipped a pair of socks under his jacket.
When Wiater realized he’d been spotted, he started running, smashing into displays and sending toothpaste and bottles of mouthwash flying. But he was soon nabbed.
“I was just trying to walk out of here and pay for my stuff,” Wiater later told arriving officers, according to the witness. “They just tackled me for no reason.”
Wiater was charged with petit larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and criminal mischief.