By Jim Clark

A Somerville police officer, working a paid detail at the Market Basket store on Somerville Ave. last Sunday morning, was alerted to the activities of a suspected shoplifter.

The store manager told the police officer that he had been watching a man in the store as he reportedly placed items into the knitted sleeves of a jacket that he was carrying.

The manager further said that he observed the suspect leave the store and meet with an individual who was driving a vehicle.

The suspect then reportedly re-entered the store and began filling the sleeves of the jacket once again.

The officer and the store manager then watched as the suspect once more left the store without purchasing any merchandise.

The officer noted that the jacket the man was carrying seemed bulky, as if something was being carried inside of it.

As the suspect reached the store parking lot the police officer and store manager confronted him, at which time he began to run from them.

The suspect reportedly tripped and fell and the police officer was able to keep him from running away.

The suspect struggled and resisted the officer’s attempts to restrain him with handcuffs, according to reports.

The suspect was eventually handcuffed and the contents of the jacket he was carrying was examined.

The officer reportedly retrieved six packages of meat from the man’s jacket, the value of which was estimated to be in excess of $120.

The suspect, Jayson Hebert, 41, of Everett, was placed under arrest and charged with shoplifting by asportation and resisting arrest.

It was later learned that an active warrant for shoplifting by concealing merchandise was also in effect and Hebert was booked for that as well.