The old instincts kicked in for Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters Wednesday afternoon.
The Bold City’s top cop was waiting at a customer service counter at a Jacksonville Home Depot on Atlantic Boulevard when a clerk spotted a theft in progress nearby, officials said.
Opting to skip 911 and go straight to the top, the clerk approached Waters and alerted him to the situation.
The veteran lawman, who was with a retired deputy pal at the time, spotted the alleged culprit outside the store.
Likely unaware of who was questioning him, the man insisted that he hadn’t done anything and wriggled free when Waters tried to hold him.
He then took off, and Waters turned on the slightly rusty but still functional jets to give chase.
Closing ground like Ronnie Lott with a badge, he caught up to the accused thief and successfully made the collar along with his friend.
His elevated position in the agency, Waters later told Action Jax, didn’t absolve him of his basic law enforcement duties.
“I didn’t stop being a policeman when I got elected sheriff,” he told the outlet. “So I’m always going to do what I need to do for the folks out here. I love my city, I love my agency, and when I know about something like that, we’re gonna act.”
A Republican, Waters was elected in 2022.
The suspect, later identified as Raymond Pena, was charged with theft and resisting arrest.
A check revealed two active theft warrants.
