A Selma man was arrested this week after loss prevention officers at a Muncie Walmart said he tried to steal camping fuel and was in the process of obtaining ingredients needed to produce methamphetamine.
Kirk Leslie Mullis Jr., 32, 10012 E. Jackson St., is preliminarily charged with theft and possession of chemical reagents or precursors.
According to a probable cause affidavit, security officers at the north Walmart, 4801 W. Clara Lane, had detained Mullis about 3 p.m. Monday after they said he attempted to leave the store without paying for a can of camping fuel.
Muncie police noted Mullis had already obtained several ingredients needed to produce meth, including fuel cans, lithium batteries, drain cleaner containing lye, matches and several tablets of Sudafed.
In 2007, Mullis was arrested after he used a red snow shovel to rob a near-downtown Muncie Village Pantry. That incident led to one of the six theft convictions he has compiled over the past nine years.
The former Muncie resident also has convictions for driving while intoxicated, driving while suspended and criminal conversion.
Two charges are pending against Mullis in Muncie City Court: battery resulting in bodily injury, filed last August, and public intoxication, filed in January.
A warrant was issued for his arrest June 6 when he failed to show up for pre-trial hearings in those cases.
He was being held without bond Wednesday in the Delaware County jail.
http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20110818/BUSTED/108180349/Man-accused-theft-meth-related-purchases