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Police: Alleged Shoplifter Tried To Bite Security Officer At Greensburg Macy's

GREENSBURG (KDKA) -- An alleged shoplifter is in custody after police say he used Mace and attempted to bite a security officer while trying to get away with purses from a department store in Westmoreland County.

The scuffle that would lead to felony charges began inside the Macy's in Greensburg when a security officer saw someone familiar.

"He observed a female walking into the store that they believed had committed purse thefts a couple weeks prior," said Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Steve Limani.

Investigators say the woman went right to the purse section and started loading them in to plastic bags she brought with her.

"There was another male individual that had come into the store shortly after she had entered and the two met up and she in turn passed the bags full of the stolen purses," said Trooper Limani.

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Police say 32-year-old Kevin McKissick, of Pittsburgh, was that man. With an estimated $3,000 in stolen purses in the bags, police say McKissick went to leave the store. A Macy's loss prevention officer tried to stop him and that's when things got violent.

"During that scuffle, the male produced Mace and actually deployed it into the eyes of the loss prevention officer," Trooper Limani said.

Another officer came to the guard's aid, and that's when police say McKissick went from using Mace to using his mouth.

"The individual started to bite the loss prevention officer," Trooper Limani said. "There were several bite marks on his arms."

Proving there's no honor amongst alleged thieves, the woman, who police are still trying to identify, left her alleged partner in crime high and dry.

"She took off," Trooper Limani said. "So she's at large. We're hoping and asking the community if they can identify her from these pictures to please contact the state police barracks."

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