A Florida man suspected of shoplifting $40 worth of steaks wriggled out his clothes in a bid to get away—and police ended up striking him with a Taser in the genitals.
Stefan Short was pinned to the ground by a manager and a civilian at the Save A Lot store in the 900 block of N. Woodland Boulevard in DeLand, Florida, on Friday night, according to a police report provided to Newsweek.
The report said the DeLand Police Department were alerted that Short was being restrained, but was fighting the people holding him down.
Witnesses told police that Short "ripped off his clothes" in an attempt to get away from the men restraining him and that packs of steaks had fallen out of his pants as he did so.
An officer arrived at the store at around 7:20 p.m. EST to find 28-year-old Short running naked out of the store and waving his arms frantically. The officer wrote in the report that he instructed Short to get on the ground, and when he refused, the officer struck him with a Taser.
The officer reported seeing coupon books and packs of meat scattered on the floor when he arrived at the scene. The police report said Short had stolen four packs of ribeye steaks and a butterscotch pudding worth a total of $42.23.
The store manager said he stopped Short, who he says is a regular shoplifter, after other shoppers reported that they saw him putting the packs of meat in his pants.
Short was taken to hospital after being struck in the genitals by the Taser.
The police report said that one Taser probe had hit Short in the middle of the left side of his abdomen and the other struck him in the base of his penis.
Officers were able to remove the probe that hit Short's torso, but the second one needed to be removed in a hospital and was disposed of as it was a "biohazard danger," the report said.
Short told police he did not remember trying to put the steaks in his pants, but said he remembered being tackled by two men.
He denied he was a drug user to police, but told doctors that he has a history of using narcotics.
Records show he was booked into the Volusia County Jail on Saturday and charged with resisting an officer without violence, resisting a transit agent while committing a theft, and first-degree petty theft.
Save A Lot was contacted for comment.
This article has been updated with information from the DeLand Police Department.
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