FRUITPORT, Mich. — Fruitport Police arrested a 38-year-old man who is accused of making a device out of pool chemicals to create a distraction to steal from a Meijer store.
Authorities arrested 38-year-old Alexae Kamron Johnson with retail fraud and placing an explosive device with intent to do harm charges. He was arraigned on Tuesday.
On Thursday, Sept. 24, police responded to the Meijer on Harvey Street on reports of a noxious gas inside the store. Officers noticed a "small gaseous cloud" that reportedly smelled like chlorine in the center of the store when they arrived.
Officers determined the gas was coming from a plastic bottle in the home goods section of the store. Investigators believe the gas was a chemical used in maintaining swimming pools.
The store was evacuated and the bottle was removed.
According to Deputy Chief Greg Poulson, investigators believe the man used the chemicals as a distraction to avoid getting caught walking out of the store with $1,000 to $2,000 in stolen merchandise.
"He was in that area for a long period of time, in that direct area, without getting any further into it," said Poulson. "We watched him load his cart up full of a bunch of electronics, and he's watching that area where, it was a bottle, like a pop bottle, 20-ounce pop bottle, and as soon as that dispersed, he was watching down that aisle, he immediately went for the exit of the store and left."
Four people received treatment at a local hospital. They were all released and are expected to be OK.
The Muskegon County Hazardous Materials Response Team also responded to the scene and ensured the store was safe to resume operations.
