By Jim Clark

Somerville Police officers were dispatched to the Target store on Somerville Ave. last Thursday on reports of a shoplifter.

As the officers approached the store, they were informed by police dispatch that the suspect had just stolen from and then left the store.

The store’s Asset Protection agent stated that the suspect was a frequent shoplifter, who hits them quickly then heads to Sullivan Station. Units responded within minutes to Target but could not find the man in question.

Eventually, a man matching the suspect’s description was spotted on Washington St. by officers as they made their way toward the location of Sullivan Station.

The officers stopped the man, later identified as Alexis Rodriguez-Perez, and asked him if he was inside the Target store, to which he reportedly replied “Yes.”

They then asked him to remove any items from inside his bag that he did not pay for or have a receipt for. Rodriguez-Perez removed three hard plastic security cases containing a Nintendo Switch joy Controllers. He also reportedly had two clear bags inside his duffle bag which contained three more Nintendo Switch Controllers, and a second bag contained three PS5 games and one PS4 game. Three of the video games were the same game for the same system.

As the officers radioed to confirm Rodriguez-Perez’s identity, he reportedly began to reach into the back of his pants to hide an object. He was told to stop but continued, according to reports.

Rodriguez-Perez was then placed into handcuffs behind his back and searched, as the items he was trying to hide turned out to be used needles and other drug paraphernalia.

According to reports, Rodriguez-Perez has shoplifted at Target a total of 35 times and has racked up a running total of $9,702.65 in lost merchandise.

There was video footage of the day’s events as well as photos that will be added to the evidence against Rodriguez-Perez.

Based off of the above-mentioned information, Rodriguez-Perez was placed under arrest and transported to the police station for booking.