K-9 officer tracks down Gwinnett County shoplifting suspect, police say

Walter Burrell Johns (Gwinnett County Police Department)

An Atlanta man suspected of shoplifting is in custody after officials say he tried to run and hide from police in Gwinnett County.

On the afternoon of March 13, Gwinnett County officers responded to reports of shoplifting at the Walmart on the 1800 block of Rockbridge Road in unincorporated Stone Mountain. 

The Walmart employees pointed out the man, but officials say he ran off into a nearby neighborhood when they tried to talk with him.

The Gwinnett County Aviation Unit spotted the man running in the area. Officers then used a K-9 unit and found the man hiding in a home's storage shed.

The suspected shoplifter, identified as 33-year-old Walter Burrell Johns, was charged with theft by shoplifting and willful obstruction of law enforcement officers.

Johns is now in custody at the Gwinnett County Jail.