Police arrest man accused of $3,800 in shoplifting

WASILLA — Wasilla Police officers apprehended a suspect Thursday afternoon accused of shoplifting more than $3,800 in iPads from Target.

Officers arrested Ian Demello, 37, of Wasilla for allegedly breaking a display case in the store and stealing eight Apple iPads, according to Wasilla Police patrol officer Rick Manrique.

He said Wasilla Police responded to Target around 2:45 p.m. Thursday. By then, Demello had left the parking lot in a dark colored sport utility vehicle.

“It was a case of shoplifting gone wild,” Manrique said.

But customers there gave the police the vehicle’s description and license plate number. And police stopped the vehicle about a half-mile from the store, northbound on the Parks Highway in front of Wasilla Lake.

Manrique said initial reports to police said the store had been robbed, so officers performed a high-risk stop when they spotted the vehicle. He said that means officers had their weapons drawn and were using their patrol vehicles as shields.

Support services division commander, Lt. Kelly Swihart was one of the officers who stopped the vehicle Demello was a passenger in. He said when officers approached, Demello fled on foot.

“But he only got probably 10 or 15 yards,” Swihart said.

He credited good teamwork from the responding officers with seeing that no one was hurt during the incident.

Demello is in custody at Mat-Su Pretrial on count of theft in the second degree, one count of criminal mischief in the fourth degree and one count of resisting arrest. His bail was set at $5,000 cash or corporate, plus a court-approved third party.

The woman driving the vehicle was not arrested, Manrique said.