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Louisiana Man Who Painted Himself Red, Crashed Car Into Target And Planted Fake Bombs Gets 25 Years In Prison

Screenshot of man who crashed his car into a Target store. [Screenshot/Twitter/WAFB]

Screenshot/Twitter/WAFB

Lorenzo Prieto Contributor
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A man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after crashing his car into a Target store in Hammond, Louisiana, and planting fake bombs while covered in red paint in 2020, according to WAFB.

Police officers reported that 44-year-old Walter Allbritton III crashed his SUV into a Target store in June 2020 and started to grab large stashes of cash from the customer service register while shouting to officers, “you’re going to have to kill me,”according to WAFB. Officers saw Allbritton leaving the store through one of the exterior exits. As they started to chase the man down, Allbritton began to scream, “shoot me, shoot,” while holding what seemed to be an explosive in his hand. (RELATED: Transgender Person Arrested For Taking Pictures Of Woman In Target Dressing Room)

Officers neutralized Allbritton with a taser and were able to return to the scene, where they found a makeshift bomb near the suspect’s vehicle. The store was immediately evacuated and officers arrested Allbritton, who admitted that the bombs were fake.

At the moment of the arrest, he was covered in red paint and wearing a red-painted cape with a sign, “black 666.”

Judge Jeffrey Johnson sentenced Allbritton to 25 years for two counts of attempted first-degree robbery, terrorism, terrorizing, carrying fake explosive devices and aggravated criminal property damage, WAFB reported.

Allbritton’s family reported that he had schizophrenia and was already hospitalized in the past, according to WAFB.

Detectives discovered that the suspect attempted to hijack a couple of cars before being tased. He live-streamed the event on Facebook. The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office also reported that Allbritton planted fake bombs at Sanderson Farms and a Dollar General in Hammond.