A Linton man is accused of stealing a vacuum cleaner from a lumber store in Linton. An officer says the incident was caught on video surveillance.

Rodney R. Shipley, 39, Linton, was arrested and booked into the Greene County Jail yesterday, Wednesday, September 1, on a warrant that was issued for his arrest last week.

Around 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 3, Officer Orry Phipps of the Linton Police Department was dispatched to Bender Lumber after LPD Dispatch got a report that a man had walked out of the store without paying for a vacuum cleaner.

The store manager told Officer Phipps that she had known Rodney Shipley for a long time and he even spoke to her before he stole a vacuum cleaner from the store. She provided video surveillance of the theft.

Officer Phipps said the video showed Shipley was in Bender Lumber for an extended period of time before he walked out the front door with the vacuum cleaner. He reported Shipley talked to the manager at the front checkout counter then left the store, then came back in. He talked to the manager again then walked over to the area where the vacuum cleaner was located, picked it up, looked around the store, then walked out the front door without paying for it.

The vacuum cleaner was a five-gallon Channel Lock wall mount, wet/dry, utility vacuum priced at $129.99.

Officer Phipps noted Shipley has a previous conviction for theft in Greene County in 2001.

A criminal case was filed against Shipley and a warrant issued on a preliminary charge of theft with a prior conviction, a Level 6 felony. Bond was set at $4,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. He posted $400 and was released later the same day as his arrest.