A man was arrested early Thursday after he attempted to steal more than $22,000 worth of high-end merchandise from a luxury department store in Buckhead, authorities said.
Zabare Royale, 33, was taken into custody after officers said they found him looking through merchandise in a shoe stockroom at Saks Fifth Avenue along Peachtree Road. The store is located at Phipps Plaza and is across the street from Lenox Square.
“Get down, get the (expletive) down,” bodycam footage released by the department showed responding officers yelling as they placed Royale in handcuffs.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following video contains offensive language.
Police said they responded to the store around 1 a.m. after a silent alarm was tripped. Onsite security personnel told officers that a man, wearing all black, was seen on surveillance footage walking around the store and placing items into a suitcase.
Officers conducted a sweep of the men’s section on the second floor, where they located a man, later identified as Royale, who matched the description of the person in the footage, police said. The investigation revealed the suspect entered the store through an emergency exit.
Officers recovered the luggage Royale was seen with, along with some of the stolen merchandise that totaled about $22,000, police said. They also found a wire cutter, hammer, screwdriver and other items inside a backpack that allegedly belonged to the suspect, according to authorities.
Royale was booked into the Fulton County Jail and is facing charges of burglary, theft by taking and possession of tools for the commission of a felony.
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