Henderson man nabbed in shoplifting crackdown he inspired

Officers investigating a report of shoplifting said they spotted Calvin Wilson, 51, leaving a Walmart store at 200 N. Cooper Drive and caught him after a short foot chase.

Police said they found nearly $100 worth of bath products and a crack pipe on Wilson.

He was charged with felony being in a building without consent with the intent to commit a felony or larceny and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was given a $10,000 secured bond and given a court hearing May 17.

Wilson was arrested in late December after police accused him of taking $57 in country ham, ham biscuits and steaks from a Food Lion store. At the time, police said he had been arrested more than 50 times for misdemeanor larceny or shoplifting charges.

Police started a partnership with local retailers to make it easier to crack down on habitual shoplifters by enforcing the state law that makes it a felony offense to be in a business without permission with the intent to commit a crime.

The Henderson Police Department has also lobbied state lawmakers to enact a habitual misdemeanor larceny law.

State Department of Correction records show that Wilson has been convicted of various crimes 26 times since 1985.

Through 1996, he was convicted of five felonies, including common-law robbery and breaking and entering, and served nearly five years in behind bars.

Since 1997, he has been convicted of one felony drug offense and 23 misdemeanors, including 13 larceny charges and five trespassing charges, DOC records show. He has served 10 two-to-five-month jail sentences, totaling 2½ years.