Shoplifters try to steal $20K worth of merchandise, hit officer with car at Somerset Mall

TROY, Mich. – Two suspected shoplifters, who police say tried to steal $20,000 worth of merchandise Wednesday from Somerset Mall in Troy, were caught after they hit a police officer with a car in the mall's parking garage.

Police said the duo went into Saks Fifth Avenue with wire cutters and attempted to steal two Chanel purses. Loss prevention personnel allegedly saw them stuffing a $15,000 purse into one of their jackets.

Police pursued the pair through the mall and into a parking garage, where they tried to escape.

"They were able to get in the car and start driving away, and the officer ordered them to stop, and they drove right towards the officer and hit him in the leg," Troy police Sgt. Meghan Lehman said.

The officer was not seriously injured.

After hitting the officer, the suspects stopped because they were trapped on the top floor of the garage and surrounded by police officers.

Once they were arrested, police found that the two, who are from Mexico, did not have valid immigration paperwork, so Immigration and Customs Enforcement was called.