An alleged shoplifter kept police at bay for some time before being tracked by a canine and taken into custody on charges of larceny.

Last week’s incident took place at 2:30pm when officers from the Carmel PD were summoned to the K-Mart in Mahopac.

Police Chief Michael Johnson said store management advised police that after taking assorted merchandise from the store without paying for the items, the suspect fled northbound on Route 6 towards Carmel: “A woman in the store at the time who observed the incident followed the suspect in his white Jeep Grand Cherokee until it pulled over on Willow Road in Carmel in the vicinity of the Putnam Bike Trail. The woman told officers via cell phone that the man jumped from his vehicle and fled into the woods.”

Members of the Carmel Police Department and Putnam County Sheriff’s Department responded to the scene. The chief said since no canine officers from the Carmel PD, Sheriff’s Department, Kent PD, Brewster Police Department, or State Police were available, a call went out to Yorktown Police, which sent its canine Officer Jason Swart and K-9, Caesar, to the area.

The pair tracked the suspect up Seminary Hill Road to the vicinity of Old Town Road and Tower Road in the Hilltop Manor subdivision, where Detective Sgt. Jack Harney took Robert Broas, 46, of Poughkeepsie, into custody.

Broas reportedly stole $540 worth of assorted items from the variety store, including mobile phones, bath towels, shirts, and Blu Ray DVDs.

The Dutchess resident was arraigned by Carmel Justice Joseph Spofford and was remanded to the Putnam Correctional Facility in lieu of $1,000 bail pending a Sept. 27 hearing.

District Attorney Adam Levy said the charge was a Class A misdemeanor carrying a maximum one-year period of incarceration in a county jail if found guilty.