Video of an Augusta shoplifter being tasered during an encounter with officers at the Deans Bridge Walmart has gone viral.
Vernando Herrington, 26, was trying to run out of Walmart last Monday after removing the price tag from a pair of $30 shoes and leave without paying, according to an arrest warrant.
A witness captured the moment he knocked down loss prevention officer Jessica Smith and got tasered in the back by sheriff’s deputy Faith Cupp.
The taser clearly affected him and left him lying on his back, but he soon got up, refusing commands to place his hands behind his back. He fled on foot but was caught with the help of an assisting deputy and went to jail for shoplifting, simple battery and obstruction of a law enforcement officer.
The video was shared on a Facebook page for “Augusta Exposed” and has been viewed over 50,000 times. Local residents have cheered the officer while others said it was the reason they avoided that Walmart location.
“Why can’t y’all just behave and stop stealing,” Erin Huff said on Facebook.
Herrington’s mother told authorities in 2016 that he suffers from bi-polar disorder and Schizophrenia. That came after Herrington suddenly stabbed his 14-year-old brother in the face and back with a flathead screwdriver. The juvenile victim required stitches to his back and face.
Herrington was sentenced to a year in prison and nine years of probation for aggravated assault in that case, but he served only a fraction of that.
