Linton man charged with theft and trespassing

A Linton man was in court Wednesday afternoon on charges that came about as a result of an alleged trespassing and attempted shoplifting incident at a local store a couple of days before Christmas.

Jeffery Scott Bays II

Jeffery Scott Bays II, 34, Linton, was charged with:

• Theft, with a prior conviction, a Level 6 felony,

• Criminal trespassing, a Class A misdemeanor, and

• Intimidation – threatens another to place them in fear of retaliation, a Class A misdemeanor.

Bays was arrested by Linton Police Det. Paul Clark on Sunday, December 23, after Clark was dispatched to Walmart in Linton about a man who was reported to have threatened an employee, the store’s Asset Protection Manager.

The manager said he told Bays to leave the store because he’d been told previously to leave and never return to the store or he would be trespassing. He said Bays became angry, was yelling profanities and threatened the manager but when he learned police had been called, Bays ran away and fled north toward the highway.

Det. Clark located Bays walking in Shelton Estates and reported he was found with a phone case, later determined to have been taken from the store, a security tag cut from a pair of work gloves, sales tags cut off a coat, a razor blade knife and a carbiner, all of which allegedly were taken from the store.

In the store, Bays had left his shopping cart with numerous items in it, including the clothing items. Clark said surveillance cameras inside the store had recorded Bays opening then concealing the phone case.

Bays was booked in to the Greene County Jail around noon that day and as of early Friday, January 4, he’s still there. His bond was set at $6,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed but he has not yet posted bond.