CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — An Atlanta police detective is off the streets and under investigation after authorities say he stole a $19 case of beer from a Cherokee County Publix while driving an undercover police vehicle.
Customers leaving the store Friday told Channel 2’s Tyisha Fernandes they were stunned by the allegations.
“That’s crazy. I mean, what else could you think?” one customer said.
According to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, Detective Ronald Sluss walked into the Publix on Hickory Flat Highway on Sept. 16 and took a 12-pack of SweetWater IPA beer valued at $18.99.
Investigators say surveillance video showed Sluss carrying the beer through the checkout area while appearing to hold a receipt. The arrest report states that he walked through the self-checkout lanes but never stopped to pay for the beer before leaving the store.
The Publix manager told Fernandes he had no idea the man he reported to 911 was a police officer.
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Instead, he said the suspect looked like any other customer, wearing a T-shirt, baseball cap, and sunglasses.
According to investigators, the manager became suspicious when he watched the man walk past every point of sale without paying. He followed the suspect into the parking lot and photographed the vehicle, only to later learn it was an undercover Atlanta police vehicle.
Customers who heard about the case said they were surprised by what investigators allege was stolen.
“Not beer. I mean, I wouldn’t say anything is okay to steal,” one shopper told Fernandes.
Another customer called it a “bad choice.”
Because the suspect left in an undercover vehicle, deputies say it initially took time to determine who he was. After tracing the truck to the Atlanta Police Department, investigators contacted APD supervisors, who identified the suspect as one of their detectives.
According to the arrest report, when authorities later confronted Sluss at his home, he spoke with an Atlanta police major and then placed his hands behind his back before he was formally arrested.
The arresting deputy wrote that he “smelled the strong odor of alcohol emitting from his breath.”
Investigators also reported smelling a strong odor of alcohol inside the undercover vehicle.
One customer said the allegations are especially troubling given Sluss’s profession.
“I would think he would know what he did is a bad idea,” the customer said.
The Atlanta Police Department says Sluss has been relieved of duty and placed in a non-enforcement status while the department’s Office of Professional Standards investigates the case.
Although he is no longer working in the field, he remains employed by the department during the investigation.