Serial Shoplifter Attacks Target Employee With Hammer After Being Caught

A Tennessee man with a lengthy history of shoplifting at Target was finally arrested after his latest attempt turned violent. Darren Conway of Southaven, Tennessee, reportedly assaulted a Target employee with a hammer after the employee attempted to prevent Conway’s shoplifting, WREG-3 reported.

Conway apparently tried to leave a Target store in Memphis on Monday morning with around $900 in stolen electronics. At that point, an unidentified store employee tried to stop him before he exited the store. Conway then pulled out a hammer and allegedly attacked the employee, but initial reports did not specify how much, if any, physical harm he inflicted upon the employee.

Conway apparently managed to get into a vehicle with an unknown accomplice, which headed down the street before being stopped by police. Both Conway and the other man, who was not identified, were taken in by the officers who stopped them. Conway admitted he had stolen from Target eight times. He also confessed to assaulting the Target employee with a hammer.

Conway was charged with theft of property and aggravated assault for his actions.

This was the latest instance of a shoplifter attacking store employees instead of relenting after being caught attempting to leave with stolen goods. A San Diego shoplifter injured one security guard’s leg and another security guard’s finger in an early December attack, while a loss prevention officer was attacked by pepper spray while attempting to stop a shoplifter in Florida a few days earlier.