By Matthew Jackson
A shoplifting call from a local convenience store Monday morning led Huntsville police on an hour-long manhunt that ended in the arrest of a Houston man.
Christopher Eric Johnson, 40, was arrested shortly before noon in a patch of woods behind the Valero convenience store at the intersection of I-45 and FM 1374 in Huntsville after attempting to shoplift from the Pilot convenience store in northern Huntsville.
According to Lt. Kevin Lunsford of the HPD, officers responded to a shoplifting call at approximately 10:30 a.m. at the Pilot store.
Johnson had allegedly entered the store and attempted to steal several items.
He fled to a vehicle and was pursued by Pilot employees as he traveled south, eventually leaving the vehicle at the Valero where HPD officers located him.
Johnson fled into the woods, and HPD patrol set up a perimeter and began to search.
Just over an hour later Senior Officer David McGann located Johnson hiding in the woods.
An investigation revealed that the vehicle he had been driving was stolen from the University of Houston campus.
Johnson was transported to the Walker County Jail and charged with theft of property and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
