Community Corner

Man Accused of Cutting Police Officer in Canton Walmart Avoids Life in Prison

Alden Ralph Mays plead to a reduced charge in court Wednesday.

A man accused of cutting a police officer with a knife while attempting to steal a TV from a Canton retail store has plead no contest to a reduced charge of unarmed robbery, according to an article in the Detroit Free Press.

According to the article, Inkster resident Alden Ralph Mays, 57, was arrested in November on the original charges of armed robbery, assault with intent to do great bodily harm, assault with a dangerous weapon and assaulting, resisting and obstructing a police officer, which could have given him life in prison.

Mays is accused of attempting to steal a 42-inch TV from the Canton Walmart on Michigan Avenue on Nov. 9.

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A Novi police officer, who was in the store investigating an unrelated fraud case at the time, stopped the man and took him into the store office. There Mays is accused of cutting the officer's hand with a knife, the article states.

The man then fled the store, but Canton police caught up with him in the parking lot and arrested him.

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In court on Wednesday, Mays plead no contest to the reduced charge of unarmed robbery, for which he could be sentenced up to 15 years in prison.

He is expected to be sentenced at the end of the month, according to the Freep.


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