January 11, 2024 - Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office officials report that on Thursday January 4th, 2024, at about 2:30 P.M. in the afternoon, deputies responded to the area of Tractor Supply in Sonora for a report of a man who had taken multiple items and left in a vehicle. The reporting party was able to provide the man’s license plate number and vehicle description to dispatch.
When deputies arrived on scene, they spoke to store staff who reported a man, later identified as 26-year-old Robert Baldwin, had entered the store, and took various welding items. When Baldwin left the store, the staff followed him. As Baldwin fled towards his vehicle, the staff approached Baldwin asking for the items back. Baldwin threw a metal bottle of oxygen at a staff member before he fled the area in his vehicle. The staff member was able to catch the bottle and was not injured.
Deputies later located Baldwin inside of his vehicle in the area of Robin Hood Drive. Deputies searched the vehicle and found various welding items they believed to have been stolen. Deputies recovered the items, confirmed they had been stolen and returned the items to Tractor Supply.
Baldwin was arrested and transported to the Dambacher Detention Center where he was booked on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and misdemeanor shoplifting.
Source & photo: Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office
