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Suspect falls out of ceiling into meat
Police dog is cited for selfless steakout
Thursday, April 28, 2005
By Paul Rioux
St. Tammany bureau

In an epic effort to escape after being caught shoplifting at a Slidell supermarket early Wednesday, police said, a man climbed above the store's false ceiling and raced around looking for a way out as police officers tracked him from the floor.

The man scrambled along a maze of steel beams supporting the ceiling, slipping occasionally and punching holes in the ceiling tiles with his feet before meeting his fate above the deli section.
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He crashed through the ceiling and landed in an open meat case, where a police dog named Major latched onto his leg, dutifully ignoring all the juicy T-bones and rump roasts.

"This is one of the funniest and most bizarre cases we've ever had," Slidell police Capt. Rob Callahan said. "One of the officers said it was like chasing a rat through an attic."

It all started Wednesday shortly before 1 a.m. when employees were closing the Winn-Dixie at 3030 Pontchartrain Drive.

The employees had seen the last customer take several items from the shelves, but the man was empty-handed as he walked to the front of the store to leave, Callahan said.

When the employees asked him what happened to the items, the man, later identified as Devyn Coleman, 19, of Slidell, bolted and ran face-first into an automatic door that did not open because it had been locked, police said.

He fell to the floor dazed and was grabbed by a few employees, who took him to an office in the back of the store while the police were called, Callahan said.

But before the officers arrived, Coleman climbed into the 4-foot crawl space between the roof and the ceiling.

Police surrounded the store, and monitored Coleman as he scrambled above them.

At one point, Coleman smashed through a plasterboard wall and was about to jump down into a rear storage room, but turned back when police entered the room, Callahan said.

Callahan credited the police dog with staying focused on his job when Coleman fell into the meat, leapt to his feet and started running in the case, stepping on the meat as he went.

"With all those steaks and hamburgers and hot dogs, that dog must have felt like he was in canine heaven," he said. "But he did what he was trained to do and clamped down on the suspect's right leg instead of a mouthwatering T-bone."

Police said they searched Coleman and found $60.33 worth of stolen merchandise, including a few packages of hair dye, six cigarette lighters, several black markers and a 40-watt night light.

"We have no idea what he planned to do with all that stuff," Callahan said. "It's just another weird twist in an already bizarre case."

Coleman also was carrying a glass pipe and admitted having smoked crystal methamphetamine, Callahan said.

Coleman, who lives at 1540 Barrymore Drive, was booked with shoplifting, felony criminal damage to property, resisting arrest by flight, possession of drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest by violence for allegedly hitting the dog.

Police estimated the damage to the store at several thousand dollars.

"All of that meat is probably spoiled, too," Callahan said. "If they have to throw it away, maybe they could give Major a little filet mignon as a reward. He certainly earned it."

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Paul Rioux can be reached at prioux@timespicayune.com or (985) 645-2852.