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On August 20, just before 7 p.m., 30-year-old Damian Woods had four children stuff stolen items into backpacks in the Walmart located at 8386 Sudley Road, the Prince William County Police Department said.
The children, a four-year-old, a six-year-old, a 12-year-old, and a 13-year-old, walked to the exit of the store with the full backpacks, but were stopped by loss prevention officers, authorities said.
Woods provided false identification information to the officers before fleeing the store on foot and leaving the children behind, officials reported.
Police said they located Woods nearby and after a brief struggle, Woods was taken into custody.
No injuries were reported, but Woods threatened to harm law enforcement as they escorted him to their police cruiser, authorities said.
The children were turned over to a guardian and Woods was charged with four counts of child neglect, two counts of assault and battery of a law enforcement officer, two counts of obstruction of justice, and other related offenses, police said.
He had a pending court date and was held without bond, officials said.
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