Man charged in theft, assault at Home Depot

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Nearly two months after allegedly pistol-whipping a man who was trying to stop him from shoplifting and attempting to shoot another, Antonio McClure was arrested by Gwinnett County sheriff ’s deputies.

The 37-year-old Covington man was apprehended Wednesday morning by investigators from the fugi- tive unit within the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office. He has been charged with aggravated assault, felony shoplift- ing and probation violation. McClure is also wanted on warrants out of DeKalb and Newton counties, according to jail logs.

McClure walked into the Home Depot on Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road on Sept. 5, loaded up a cart with at least $1,500 in merchandise and tried to walk out without paying, according to the sher- iff ’s office. Multiple shoppers noticed and tried to intervene, but McClure pulled out a gun and threatened to shoot, police said at the time.

McClure pointed the gun at one bystander and pulled the trigger, but the weapon did not fire, police said. He then hit another man in the face with the gun before fleeing with the merchandise, according to the sheriff’s office.

The incident briefly caused a lockdown at Georgia Gwinnett College that afternoon. The campus was on “soft lockdown” for 30 minutes while police checked buildings and parking decks for McClure and the driver of the car McClure allegedly fled in. Neither man was found, and the campus re-opened.

McClure was arrested at Oak Tree Villas apartment complex in Decatur around 6 a.m. The DeKalb County Sheriff ’s Office participated in the arrest, with officers from its fugitive unit and SWAT team assisting, the Gwinnett County Sheriff ’s Office said.

McClure is being held at the Gwinnett County Detention Center without bond.