By Kevin Deutsch
Call it the grape escape.
A shoplifter at Publix hurled bottles of wine at deputies as he tried to elude capture in Tamarac last week, court records show.
Dalvin Gamble, 23, a homeless man living in Greenacres, was riding an electric shopping cart on March 3 when he grabbed a 12-pack of beer and two bottles of wine off the shelves of the Publix at 4121 W. Commercial Blvd., then rode out of the store without paying, according to an arrest affidavit.
Someone inside the Publix phoned the Broward Sheriff’s Office, whose deputies found Gamble in front of the store, records show. There, he allegedly jumped off the electric shopping cart, grabbed the wine bottles, and threw them at deputies before fleeing, according to BSO.
The wine bottles shattered on the ground as Gamble ran off, the deputies following him in their marked car, records show. According to the affidavit, they caught up with him a short time later when he sat on a bus bench.
BSO estimated the total loss to Publix as $529, records show.
Gamble is charged with two counts of aggravated assault on an officer, petit theft, removing a shopping cart, and violating his probation in a Palm Beach County case, court records show.
He was being held without bond Thursday at the Broward Main Jail.
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