BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — A man was arrested on theft charges after being accused of stealing packs of frozen meat from grocery stores in Denham Springs.

According to the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a call around 10 a.m. about a man leaving a Neighborhood Walmart without paying for concealed items and returning to allegedly do it again.

Witnesses shared the suspect’s appearance and the vehicle he was driving with deputies. They also said that the suspect was “stuffing all of these packs of meat into his pants.”

After issuing a BOLO for the vehicle, Denham Springs police officers located the vehicle on Range Road, near I-12.

Once stopped, officers found packs of meat, including two packs of lean hamburger meat, four packs of ribeyes, and eight packs of Angus ribeyes. After further investigation, deputies found that more packs of meat were stolen from another store in the area. The estimated amount stolen is $800.

Sheriff Jason Ard said the meat was returned to the stores, but will not be resold. The packs must be destroyed.

Michael Ardoin, 57, was arrested and booked into the Livingston Parish Detention Center. Ard said Ardoin has an extensive theft conviction history. He has 74 prior arrests, 26 for theft, and nine convictions.

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