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Article published Jan 10, 2008 Man charged with assault in steak heist
By Jessica Stith of The Daily Times Staff
He had steaks for eating and a knife for cutting, but his next meal was served up in the Blount County Jail. A 45-year-old Maryville man was arrested after Kroger employees said he stole steaks and then pulled out a knife when they confronted him Tuesday night. Maryville Police Chief Tony Crisp said Mark Anthony Hopper, 45, Highland Road, Maryville, was arrested by Maryville police officers on charges of aggravated assault and theft of property by shoplifting. He was being held in lieu of bonds totaling $6,000 pending a 9 a.m. Friday hearing in Blount County General Sessions Court. According to a Maryville police report, Sgt. Eddie Davis responded to Kroger, 730 Watkins Road, at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday on the report of a theft. Dispatchers said that the “suspect had fled the store after displaying a knife.” The suspect was described as a white male wearing jeans, a greenish gray jacket and a hat. Upon Davis’ arrival, Lt. Gary Nitzband and Officer Eric Gutridge said the suspect was already in custody. A 40-year-old female employee of Kroger said she had approached the suspect outside the store and asked him to come back inside, but he refused. She reported that she told him he needed to give her the property that he had inside of his jacket. “She then observed the suspect holding a knife in his right hand,” Davis reported. “She told me the knife blade was not open.” The suspect apparently gave the female employee two of the three steaks and attempted to flee. An 18-year-old male employee said he confronted the suspect and the man told him to “back off” while displaying a knife. He said the suspect put the rest of the meat down and fled. Nitzband reported that he saw a man in a nearby field shortly after Kroger employees reported the incident. He said the man matched the description of the suspect. Nitzband searched the man and asked him if he had any weapons. He said the man, later identified as Hopper, responded by saying he had, “a knife in my pocket, but I didn’t pull it on anybody.” Nitzband reported he had not mentioned anything about a knife or the Kroger incident. Officers recovered a black folding knife in Hopper’s pocket, the report said. They took him to Kroger where three witnesses identified Hopper as the man who stole the steaks and displayed the knife, the report said.