Alfdog

January 09, 2007 6:00 AM
LODI - It didn't take long for Lodi police to come up with the name of a man suspected of stealing two laptop computers from the Staples store on Kettleman Lane.

The thief left a wallet containing a driver's license, debit card, student ID and other cards at the cashier's counter, and police say it's someone with a record.

Sacramento police arrested Matthew Copeland Miller, 23, after Lodi police alerted them to be on the lookout.

His name appeared on the documents and employees identified the picture on the driver's license as the man who had stolen from them, police said.

Police said Miller also injured a store employee who tried to stop him from driving away.

"It's a very solvable crime," said Lodi police Officer Roger Butterfield.

Lodi police said a man tried to purchase two laptop computers shortly before 10 a.m. Monday. When he swiped his debit card, the cashier asked if he had a personal identification number for it, Butterfield said. After the man instead tried the credit-card feature, the register's computer declined the purchase, the officer said.

The cashier placed the laptops behind the counter, at which point the man went behind the counter, grabbed the laptops and ran from the building, Butterfield said.

Employees and passers-by tried to stop the thief, who jumped into his car and began backing away from the store, according to police. In the process, the driver's side door struck Staples employee Jerry Kwong, 32, knocking him to the ground unconscious, police said.

The thief also dented a parked Ford Expedition before driving away, Butterfield said. Kwong was treated for his injuries at Lodi Memorial Hospital.

Witnesses told police the suspect was driving a silver Nissan Maxima with California license plate MIN2MAX. The car is registered to someone in the Sacramento area, but police would not say who.

The front fender on the driver's side is black, and the side-view mirror is damaged, Lodi police said.

Authorities in Sacramento County and Stockton were notified to be on the lookout for the suspect, who could face charges of grand theft, felony hit and run and misdemeanor hit and run.

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