A man was arrested Wednesday morning after smashing a jewelry case at the Aberdeen Walmart and attempting to steal the contents.

Jonathan A. Weaver, 29, Aberdeen, was arrested for second-degree theft, second-degree burglary and second-degree malicious mischief, according to the county’s booking website.

“It came out at 9:20 this morning,” said Cmdr. Steve Timmons of the Aberdeen Police Department. “He’d smashed the jewelry case and stole a bunch of rings. He was last seen westbound toward the train bridge.”

The call initially came in as a robbery, Timmons said, provoking a substantial response as the whole department converged on the scene.

“We had all of our officers plus our command staff was down there,” Timmons said. “No force was used, it was basically a smash and grab.”

A city worker spotted the suspect near East River Street, Timmons said, and an officer detained him.

“He denied it was him, but we had the Walmart employee come down and positively identify him,” Timmons said.

Weaver was taken into custody without issue, Timmons said, and the jewelry stolen, 10 rings, was located on his person. The rings ranged in value, including several that were worth several hundred dollars, Timmons said.

Walmart has had a number of shoplifts recently, including a Saturday interdiction effort by APD that resulted in several arrests, but thefts as a whole are significantly down this year, Timmons said.

“I believe our shoplifts are actually down for the year compared to last year,” Timmons said. “Thefts in general are down 36% compared to last year.”

Contact Senior Reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or mlockett@thedailyworld.com.