I just walked from down here. >> Well, do me a favor, put your hands behind your back, okay? >> Hey, chill out. Got one. Got one running. He's running to the traffic. >> There's a whole bunch of stuff in here. >> So, I'm going to jail? >> Yeah, today you are. >> On March 24th, 2025, around 2:30 p.m., a deputy from the Marion County Sheriff's Office responded to the Walmart on South US Highway 441 in Summerfield after employees reported a man stuffing merchandise into a backpack inside the store. By the time the deputy arrived, 27-year-old Khalil Malik Caswell had already spotted that he'd been made, abandoned the backpack near the garden exit, and walked out. But, he hadn't gotten far. >> Someone Marion primary. >> That's weird. I didn't even turn it on. It just did that again. Huh? >> Does Jose come over here yet? That's the same guy walking in the store right now. Looks like he's talking with somebody in there. >> Oh, I got you. All right. I figured Jose was probably watching the cameras and >> No, he wanted me to double check. I didn't know if Jose wanted us to >> I'm not I'm just flying for you. >> Yeah. >> All right. We just wanted to see if he wants a trespassing, or do you guys want us cuz he has a past violent felony, the sale, so >> Right, yeah. How long does it usually take you guys here at a time? So in case they run. >> Let me call him again. But yeah, essentially right now what we can do is we can trespass him. >> Yeah. Well, I know he's more than likely going to want to wait and catch him. I figured he was there cuz he was watching the camera. >> No, he can't. He's not allowed to stop him from doing that. >> Our cameras aren't good enough. >> Okay. >> He said he's going out to the garden. >> Huh? >> He's wanting to trespass him out in the garden. >> Oh, he's over there? >> Yeah. He said cuz he saw him, so he started ditching a bunch of stuff, so he's wanting to trespass him out. Yeah. >> [clears throat] >> You sure he's down here? >> Yeah. >> I just don't want him to slip out that way. I was going to grab the car. >> Can't do that. >> Well, no. Unless he has other items on him still. >> Yeah, but >> But we can't prove that. >> The deputy followed the trail Caswell had left behind. The stolen backpack near the garden exit loaded with merchandise that wasn't his and taken from the store. >> Did you guys see where that guy went with the tan backpack? You got a tent right there? Yeah. >> What is halfway through that power company? >> What is halfway through it? >> Yep. I know you don't really work for halfway through it down at Cal Ranch. >> Oh. I don't know what's halfway through there. >> So, he gets his bag and he walks down the canal. He's your RP is fairly confident that he did so in front of us. Pretty sure. It's 142. You see him over here? >> Okay. >> Why are you looking to do that right now? Cuz it's abandoned. >> Got it. What? There's a whole bunch of stuff in here. Yep. We're going to have to go in there and get them to tell us what the price is for all this. Ask him for that camera footage. Found your stuff. >> Yeah, so we got one homeless guy back here we went and talked to. Basically, homeboy threw the backpack in the bushes >> Yep. >> across the power plant >> Y'all >> And we went to check the backpack and it's full of stuff. >> Yeah, I thought you guys were going to come with a cuz he was walking slowly. I thought you were going to hop on the on your car and get him quick, but he was just cuz he was just walking. >> When I saw you guys walking from the other side of the street, I didn't want >> The reason we kept walking over here and we didn't jump in the car cuz we didn't want to lose sight of him. Cuz if we get in the car now, we drive over here and then we lose sight of him. Yeah. >> Hey, but that's a great recovery, man. Thank you. We recovered property. We'll get >> So, yeah, the thing So, the thing is is he If you guys are able to say that that stuff belongs to you from Walmart He passed the final He passed the final point of sale. So, if y'all want to pursue charges for that, I just need to get an itemized list of what that stuff costs. >> Yeah, we're going to get a training receipt. >> All right, cool. Yeah, I know. We were here for that. I was here with him for that one call where the with the uh the one dude that took off with uh It was from the forest, remember? >> You know, you know he got stuff in the black backpack. >> Hey, you're on the wrong side. I know. I have to like sit here and think about it for a second. 720 So, I can run a video for them real quick. And make sure I take a picture of this. So, we saw selection. >> We saw the selection. One for you guys and one for us. We just had a copy. >> Okay, cool. I see it. >> Let me get the one with the time and the Yes, this one. >> That one's got a time on it? >> Yeah. >> Was No, that's the time that it was printed? >> Or I'll just take a picture if you want this one. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. It's all right. I'll keep yours. >> Are you doing that? I'm going to run over and grab that hat out of the bushes. In case he comes >> 20 yards further down the same path sat a black hat, and at the end of it, walking along US Highway 441 as if nothing had happened, was Caswell himself, heading straight toward the deputy without realizing it. When asked about Walmart, he denied ever being inside. >> So, you got these two that are still hanging out in back of the car. >> Potentially. >> 45 >> There he is. Hey boss. Can you come talk to us for a second? Just keep your hands out of your pockets, okay? Come here. >> What what what did I do? >> Were you just at the Walmart? >> No. >> The deputy asked him to place his hands behind his back. [music] Caswell turned and ran straight into oncoming traffic on US Highway 441, narrowly missing vehicle after vehicle as he sprinted westbound across the highway. The chase covered 2 to 300 yd before it ended, not [music] with the deputy catching him, but with a homeowner finding him crouched in the bushes behind a house in a nearby residential area. >> Will do me a favor put your hands behind your back, okay? >> Chill out. >> Got one. Got one running, he's running in the traffic. >> Come out. Come out. You don't get tased. Come out. COME OUT RIGHT NOW. COME OUT. Come out. Lay down, face down. >> I didn't do anything. >> Extend your arms out. >> I didn't do anything. It's over there, man. You guys I'm scared. >> Yeah. >> What did he do? He ran in the traffic? >> [panting] >> What is this for? >> First name is Brooks. What's your phone? >> Yeah? >> This is my battery pack. You may have dropped yours in that pocket. You were running pretty fast, dude. Headphones? >> You want the headphones? That's my other pocket. I might have dropped them in. Let's see what's up. There was pepper spray in my pocket. >> What? >> 18 minutes. >> It's changed. >> I appreciate you not grabbing it. >> What's this? >> A phone, officer. In your other pocket? >> There's a notebook. It's still in my front right now. >> An officer placed Caswell in the back of the patrol car and drove him back to the Walmart, [music] back to the scene he had walked out of 20 minutes earlier. Now surrounded by deputies with a backpack full of stolen merchandise waiting to be matched to the man sitting in cuffs behind the glass. >> You mind if I have him take a seat in the back of your car for right now? Yeah. Let me check you real quick, okay? I know I already checked you once, but we're going to check you again, all right? No, not right now. You got anything in your shoes? No? Yeah, scoot that way, face me. All right, there's plenty room on that one. All right, you're good, man. So, if you sit try not to contort your body. If you face that way, or you get what I'm saying? Hands on that side or that side is a lot more comfortable, okay? >> Okay. >> All right, transfer him over. All right, boss. All right, hold on. Hold on. Search your little truck. Unlock the area. Bam. There you go. Bam. Go. We'll be with you in a minute, okay? Watch your leg. >> Once in custody, Caswell dropped the act entirely. He admitted he had [music] driven from Leesburg specifically to steal from the store. He had abandoned the backpack the moment he realized he'd been spotted, [music] and he had run because he knew exactly what was waiting for him. >> So, I know I asked you earlier >> I want to go back to Leesburg, please. >> I know I asked you earlier, but you told me no. What were you at this Walmart? >> I was, yeah. >> You were at the Walmart? >> Yes, sir. >> And what were you doing inside? >> I had some stuff in a bag, and I dropped I dropped the bag. >> Was it the brown bag? >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. What was inside the bag? >> Uh there was like some There was a knife, there was uh some camping stuff, lights. >> Was there a speaker? >> Yes. Yes, there was a speaker. >> And when you put that stuff when you grabbed that stuff off the shelf, what what were you meaning to do with it? >> I came here with somebody, and we were supposed to boost. I was trying to make some money. >> And what did you do with the bag once you left the store? >> I dropped it. I got scared. >> Okay. You had it with you when you left? Yeah? And then you dropped it? Where'd you drop it at? >> Over by that fence. >> Over by the fence? Okay. Well, biggest piece of advice that we can give you is try and do right by yourself, okay? >> So, I'm going to jail? >> Yeah, today you are. >> They're going to want you trespassed. They already told me they wanted you trespassed. Okay, can can can they can they let me go, please? >> They already made their decision. And we've already made ours because we tried to talk to you about it. And then, first of all, you lied to me when I asked you if you'd been to the Walmart. Then, when I asked you to put your hands behind your back, you took off running in this traffic. So, you made your decisions, and now we got to make our decisions. >> Listen, man, actions got consequences. >> I'm not even going to be able to bond out of jail. I'm out on bond right now. >> Okay. >> Well, can I get my lighter? >> We're going to go through that door over there on the other side of the SUV, okay? >> We're going to go through that >> Side of the door right over here on the other side of the SUV. >> Caswell was later transported to the Marion County Sheriff's Office, [music] where the full weight of the afternoon was about to catch up with them. In the end, Khalil Malik Caswell was charged with petit theft, third or subsequent offense, and resisting an officer without violence.