Gwinnett County police said they nabbed a car thief after he tried to hide in a shopping center Friday morning.

The incident unfolded at a shopping center on Rockbridge Road in unincorporated Gwinnett County around 10 a.m. News Chopper 2 flew over the area as Gwinnett police were investigating.

Officers said they followed a driver into the plaza after realizing his blue Mercedes-Benz was stolen. They said the driver parked, ran out of the car into a CVS pharmacy and tried to climb through the ceiling.

"The driver of the car ran into the CVS and started kind of wrecking the place in efforts to get out of the back," Gwinnett police Cpl. Jake Smith told Channel 2's Kerry Kavanaugh.

There were reports of a robbery at the CVS, but police said nothing was stolen.

The man then ran out of the CVS into the adjacent Ingles grocery store, police said. Officers evacuated the store and sent in a search dog. Kavanaugh was there as officers dragged out the suspect in handcuffs. They said he was found in a freezer.

Police said they have been trying to crack down on high crime in southern parts of the county.

http://bcove.me/jhf9cr18