A suspected diaper thief shot dead outside a Pine Hills Wal-Mart on Saturday was a fugitive on felony probation at the time of his death, state records show.
Arthur “Art” Adams, 19, was a gang member who was planning to sell the diapers, Orange County sheriff’s Capt. Angelo Nieves said.
Adams had an arrest record dating to 2011, when he was 15 years old, records show. He was sentenced to four years of probation in June for two 2013 racketeering convictions.
A customer — a 50-year-old man — shot Adams after stepping in to help an employee who had followed Adams and two people with him to the parking lot, investigators said.
Nieves would not release the customer’s name, saying the information is “active criminal investigative information” and therefore exempt from disclosure under Florida’s public records law.
He also wouldn’t say whether the customer had a permit to legally carry a concealed weapon or if the suspected thief was armed at the time of the shooting.
Detectives are investigating and plan to forward their findings to the Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office for a decision on whether he should be charged.
Adams had been arrested at least nine times on charges including grand theft, fleeing law enforcement and selling marijuana.
A Facebook page that appears to be his shows him grinning as he displays a large wad of cash in one hand and a gun in the other.
Nieves said detectives were still working Monday to identify a second man seen on surveillance video with Adams during the incident.
The Sheriff’s Office wouldn’t release the name of the third person, a girl. Deputies said she fled after the shooting but later showed up at a hospital with a gunshot injury.
The shooting happened shortly after 8 a.m. when Adams and the two others walked out of the Wal-Mart on Clarcona Ocoee Road at Pine Hills Road with two carts full of unpaid merchandise, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
A store employee followed and confronted them in the parking lot, deputies said. A customer noticed went over to help the employee, investigators said.
At some point, the customer thought one of the suspects was arming himself and felt threatened, deputies said. The customer then grabbed his own gun and opened fire.
Deputies said the suspects got into a car that was stolen during a carjacking last month and tried to drive away. They crashed into two other vehicles in the parking lot before getting out and running, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Adams was found across the street at a Citgo gas station. Emergency medical crews took him to a hospital, where he died.
No details about the carjacking were released.
Staff writer Susan Jacobson contributed to this report. sallen@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5417
A customer of a Pine Hills Wal-Mart shot a man suspected of stealing diapers and other items from the store Saturday morning, according to the Orange County
A customer of a Pine Hills Wal-Mart shot a man suspected of stealing diapers and other items from the store Saturday morning, according to the Orange County
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