Body Recovered After Shoplifting Suspect Jumps Into Pond While Fleeing Mall Police

Officials said a shoplifter fled from mall police at Arundel Mills and jumped into retaining pond

Authorities have pulled a body from a pond after a shoplifting suspect fled an Anne Arundel County mall Monday night.

Officials said a man was spotted shoplifting from a store at the Arundel Mills mall around 8:30 p.m. While attempting to flee from mall security officers, he ran outside and jumped into the storm-water runoff pond, they said.

The man began to swim, and the security offcers urged him to return to the side of the pond.

Authorities said at one point, the suspect appeared to swim down into the pond and didn't resurface. The pond is about 20 feet deep in the middle, and filled with sediment and thick underwater vegetation.

Anne Arundel County Fire and EMS crews were called at 9 p.m. but were unable to find him.

Police had not initially believed the man was still in the water, but they called in divers, who found the body of the suspect under water near the middle of the pond around 11:15 p.m.

A forensic examiner responded to the scene and found no trauma to the body, which was then taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore for an autopsy.

The man has not yet been identified.

Authorities said his death appears to be an accidental drowning, but the investigation is ongoing.

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