A Lacey man was arrested on suspicion of stealing multiple items worth over $100 from a Home Depot and punching two loss prevention officers in the face.
Joshua J, Goldade, 35, was arrested on Sept. 6 after a reported robbery at the Home Depot on the 1400 block of Marvin Road NE.
Two loss prevention officers told police that a man, later identified as Goldade, took multiple items, including cans of spray paint and propane and padlocks, then hid them under his shirt.
One of the officers said he spoke to Goldade outside the store, at which point the suspect dropped items from inside his shirt.
The officer said he grabbed Goldade’s arm because he knew that the suspect had more items on him, but Goldade proceeded to swing at him.
A physical altercation broke out between the two. The other loss prevention officer then stepped in, causing him to get hit in the mouth.
Police noted that the first employee’s eye had a laceration and was beginning to swell, while the second officer had a swollen lip. Goldade also had a laceration on his face and a swollen nose, police said.
New challengers
Two witnesses, friends who were entering the store at the time of the incident, wrote in their statements that they saw Goldade “swinging his fists at the two loss prevention employees.”
The witnesses said they restrained Goldade on the ground and told everybody to calm down.
“Right after that, the shoplifter’s dad ran full speed and tackled the shorter loss prevention employee,” one witness wrote. His friend corroborated his statement.
Upon arriving at the scene, police were directed by the employees to a vehicle in the parking lot. According to the police report, an older male exited the driver’s seat and told law enforcement something along the lines of, “What the f*ck do you want?”
The man, later identified as Goldade’s father, began to scream at police, telling them that the store employees had assaulted his son.
Both Goldade and his father were handcuffed without incident. A search of the suspect’s pocket yielded multiple sockets that were still in the packaging.
Suspect admits to theft, claims self-defense
The suspect admitted to police that he stole items from the store but said he hit the employees in self-defense. According to the officer, the suspect said he pulled away from loss prevention officers but didn’t start swinging at them until they hit him.
“I went in, and I did steal some stuff,” Goldade said. “I was coming around, and they were on me and stuff, so I was giving it back to them, but they was grabbing me and stuff, so I tried to just pull away.”
“I turned around, he [employee] said something, he punches me in the nose, and then when I got punched I started fighting with him a little bit, and then the other dude got on me, and they started beating me up,” he added.
Asked whether he started the altercation, Goldade insisted that he initially tried to walk away, but an employee grabbed him by the arm.
Goldade was booked into the Thurston County Jail for second-degree robbery. His father was released as he was not involved in the alleged theft.
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