A 42-year-old man was caught in a South Whidbey grocery store with stolen tomatoes down his pants, according to court documents.

Jonathan L. Bevers appeared in Island County Superior Court Aug. 26. Judge Carolyn Cliff found probable cause existed to believe Bevers may have committed the crime of robbery in the second degree.

The judge set Bevers’ bail at $5,000 bond or cash.

The case was transferred to Island County District Court, where Bevers will face a lesser charge in the case.

On the afternoon of Aug. 25, Lt. Darren Crownover with the Island County Sheriff’s Office responded to the report of a shoplift in progress at the Ken’s Korner Red Apple in Clinton. When Crownover arrived, he could hear yelling from inside the grocery store, according to his report. A store employee was holding Bevers down on the floor, with beer cans and cherry tomatoes surrounding him.

The lieutenant recognized Bevers from an incident the previous day, when he was allegedly shoplifting a bag of ice from the Clinton Liquor Store.

Bevers had crushed cherry tomatoes on the back of his shirt, and more were discovered in the bottom of his pant legs, Crownover wrote in his report. He led Bevers to his patrol car and arrested him.

The employee told Crownover that this was Bevers’ second trip to the store that day and over the last week he has come in and shoved various items down his pants. On that day, Bevers was attempting to wrap a six pack of Budweiser beer in his shirt, according to the lieutenant’s report. The employee confronted him and offered to buy him food, but Bevers insisted he needed a beer. When he was told no, Bevers agreed to set the beer down and walk out of the store, but at the last moment, grabbed it and tried to get past the store employee.

Bevers pushed into the store employee and tried to wrestle with him, according to Crownover’s report. During the confrontation, Bevers tore the employee’s shirt. Another employee that witnessed the event said he saw Bevers grab the employee and push him. The pilfered items, which also included a toothbrush, were valued at a total of $17.18.

Bevers, who is homeless, asked the lieutenant to retrieve his belongings from a large shopping cart in the parking lot.

Crownover noted in his report that Bevers has current warrants for his arrest out of Lacey for resisting arrest and obstruction and out of Redmond for unlawful transit conduct. His prior convictions include malicious mischief, assault and theft.