Police said that a convicted thief was caught on camera using his child to help him shoplift.
Joshua Johnson denied the accusation that he used his six-year-old son to steal a $50 electrical circuit breaker from a Chillicothe Menard's store.
"It's despicable," said Menard's customer Mark Huff after reviewing the video.
For an unknown reason, police said that a loss prevention worker focused the security camera on Johnson, 30, and his son.
According to police, Johnson was seen picking up a circuit breaker and handing it to his son, who was just out of camera's view.
"You see him turn back around and the circuit breaker is not in his hand, you see him just carrying a wire," said Chillicothe Police officer Bud Lytle.
Police said that Johnson picked up another breaker and then placed it back on the shelf. He was accused of encouraging his son to run out of the store to an awaiting van.
"(Johnson) stated that he wasn't even aware of the fact that the child had taken the electric circuit breaker out of the store with him," Lytle said.
Police said that the child was told to hide the circuit breaker when he got to the van. Officers found the item under a seat.
"The child was very upset, crying," Lytle said. "He wouldn't even talk to police he was that upset."
Johnson faces two misdemeanor charges including theft and child endangering. Johnson, who bonded out, was banned from Menard's.
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