By Billy Davis
Batesville police credit an alert patrolman for foiling shoplifters at Wal-Mart who had allegedly stolen thousands of dollars in merchandise from the Hernando location.

BPD Patrolman Daniel Chandler spotted a suspicious automobile at the Batesville store and initiated a traffic stop when a fire alarm sounded, said BPD Deputy Chief Don Province.

Chandler’s traffic stop on November 14 led to the arrest of three suspects: Clifford Clark of Memphis, and Kathleen Krencis and Logan Novascone, both of Byhalia. All face a charge of felony shoplifting.

Clark has a criminal history and is being held on a $100,000 bond while Krencis and Novascone are in jail on a $10,000 bond, said the deputy chief.

Province said Chandler was patrolling in East Batesville shortly before midnight when he saw an automobile parked near the automotive bays on the north side of Wal-Mart.

“It was parked in the dark in an area of the store, which made him suspicious,” Province recalled. As the officer drove up to the car, an alarm sounded and the suspects were running to their rented Ford Taurus with a stolen hunting coat and a desktop computer.

Inside the car, Chandler allegedly found “a couple thousand dollars of merchandise” from the Hernando Wal-Mart, Province said.

The deputy chief said police detectives are following leads following a November 7 armed robbery at the Batesville Wal-Mart.

A black male put a handgun to the head of a store employee, and he and a second black male escaped with stolen iPads through an emergency exit.